Virtual course in spinal cord injury care

Abstract

Introduction

The complexity of health conditions in spinal cord injury (SCI) demands planning and preparation of patients and families for continued care post-discharge. Health providers must be proficient in the daily care of these patients. A virtual course can aid this education strategy through short, point-of-care online tutorials.

Objective

To describe the creation and implementation of an online course for health professionals to provide quality SCI patient care and caregiver orientation.

Methods

The virtual course "Basic Care to the SCI Patient" was developed on Windows/2007. Videotexts were created using Word & PowerPoint/2010, arranged with Movie Maker/2012.

Results

Eleven topics were identified as crucial for training in basic SCI patient care: 1) Understanding SCI, 2) What is rehabilitation,: 3) Functional goals in SCI, 4) in Cervical SCI, 5) in Thoracic SCI, 6) in Lumbosacral SCI, 7) Care for hospitalized SCI patients, 8) Skin care, 9) Intermittent vesical catheterization (clean technique), 10) Bowel training, and 11) Understanding and managing complications in SCI patients.

Discussion

Living with SCI requires patients and caregivers to adapt to a new lifestyle by learning and applying health measures. Health professionals have an opportunity to teach them skills, though their knowledge is often fragmented. Digital learning can expedite therapeutic team training, ensure complete information transmission, and provide continuous consultation access.

Conclusion

Health education via virtual tools promotes quality of life. In SCI, it offers access to specialized knowledge for health professionals, facilitating patient, family, and community education. These tools require tutors—usually expert health professionals—to be familiar with technology.