Family-Centered Empowerment Process in Individuals with Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Living in Iran: A Grounded Theory Study

Study Design: This was a qualitative study using Grounded Theory Method.Objectives: To explain the process of family-centered empowerment in a population of individuals with SCI living in Iran.Setting: Brain and SCI Research Center, Social Welfare Center, and SCI Association of Tehran; Iran.Methods: Participants were persons with traumatic SCI, ۱۳ family member caregivers, and ۱۱ health care providers selected through purposeful sampling. Data were collected using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews which were continued until data saturation. The interview data were methodically collected and analyzed using Strauss and ۱۸ Corbin’s (۱۹۹۸) recommended method for grounded theory. Constant comparative analysis was simultaneously conducted through reviews of the interview ۱۹ statements, observations of behavior, interviewer field notes, and interviewer memos. The analysis was managed in MAXQDA software version ۱۰.Results: The ۲۰ process of family-centered empowerment following SCI included ۵ categories: ۱) disruption in the existential integrity of the individual; ۲) constructive life recovery; ۳) inhibitors of family-centered empowerment; ۴) facilitators of family-centered empowerment, and ۵) back on Track. Constructive life recovery was selected as the core variable using the Grounded Theory Method. This core variable identified the strategies most frequently used by the participants to cope with thchallenges of SCI related impairment, disability, and overall life management.Conclusions: Family-centered empowerment process in individuals with SCI living in Iran emerged from the data. The model includes early disruptions in the bio-psycho-social and vocational lives of individuals with SCI and their families, strategies for ۲۵ recovery post-injury, inhibitors and facilitators of family-centered empowerment, the gradual return to work and daily activities, and the expected social roles for individuals with SCI.

Keywords:

spinal cord injury , family-centered , empowerment