My Health: Information Sheet

This leaflet provides some additional take away information to the My Health session we did today as part of NSIC Patient Education programme.

As part of the session we talked about:

• Your experience of Goal Planning at the NSIC and whether you have felt an equal part of the Rehabilitation team? It is our aim to ensure you know how to express your feelings and own goals
• The personal resources that you bring to your situation and how these can be used now
• That part of rehabilitation is for you to become an expert in your own care needs – this knowledge will develop and build during your admission as part of your spinal cord injury rehabilitation
• Your rehabilitation and health after spinal cord injury are very different from the usual problems that people might visit a doctor or hospital for
• The “Making the Move” leaflet produced by the NSIC Clinical Psychology team and any concerns that you may have about your upcoming discharge
• Your confidence in raising health concerns when you are discharged and back in your own community – we want you to have the confidence to speak up about your concerns or if you would prefer have someone who can speak up on your behalf
• That after your discharge you will be able to make decisions about your own health needs and be able to identify when, where and what issues to seek help with. Either your GP or the NSIC outpatient’s department

Sometimes as part of the session, depending on people’s experience, we will show these films. These are the links for your information:

• A film about Goal Planning at the NSIC – https://youtu.be/yPt7cvqzSKk

• A film about how the NHS expects GP and community services to meet complex health needs like spinal cord injury – Comprehensive Model of Personalised Care (short verison) – YouTube

We often recommend as part of the session, that you:

• Develop a personal relationship with your GP or GP’s secretary – how to do this is included in this session
• Write a ‘Health Passport’ or ‘Care Plan’ that outlines your needs in case you need to go into your local hospital
• Connect with the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) Specialist Nursing Team if you have healthcare worries and need advice as they can support you and liaise with your GP, District Nurse
• Seek support from one of the spinal cord injury charities: Spinal Injuries Association, The Back Up Trust, Aspire

Below are some key websites you might find helpful or to share with your GP / healthcare professionals if they need to know more about spinal cord injury:

• NSIC-Online
• www.christopherreeve.org
• www.spinalcord.com
• www.spinal-research.org
• www.ninds.nih.gov
• The SIA have a range of factsheets on their website about different aspects of spinal cord injury, these are currently being updated but will be available soon on their website, www.spinal.co.uk

We hope you found the session helpful.  We review the sessions regularly and would appreciate any feedback regarding the information we have delivered.

Our contact details are:

Dr Jane Duff, Head of the NSIC Clinical Psychology Team, bht.nsicpsychology@nhs.net

Chris Yeates, Back Up Outreach & Support Coordinator, tel: 020 8875 1805, luke@backuptrust.org.uk

Peta Barratt, SIA Support Network Volunteer Tel: 01908 035294 Email: p.barratt@spinal.co.uk

Aspire: Tel: 020 8954 5759