Living A Good Life Despite Limitations 5 Years Post Spinal Cord Injury

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Author Info

Sanne Angel

Corresponding Author

Sanne Angel
Research unit of nursing and healthcare, Institute of Public Health, Aarhus University, Denmark

A B S T R A C T

The changed body functions after spinal cord injury challenges all parts of life. The recovery process is supported by many rehabilitation initiatives. This process takes time and it is difficult to pre-tell how life will be. With a Ricoeurian approach, peoples’ experiences of life and the difficulties they had to deal with five years after spinal cord injury were explored. Interviews with 11 people were analysed using Ricour’s text model. The findings showed that life can be perceived as good despite limitations entailed bodily limitations and strains. The themes were that though bothersome, life was experienced as good and possibilities appreciated. This implied a deliberate choice of not letting limitations take focus. Striving to try out dreams, some found their way though dealing with bodily strain. Furthermore, Negotiation was demanded to be socially included. In overcoming spinal cord injury, the individual dealt with all aspects of life. Coming to terms with the limitations, the decisive factor was that it did not include a loss where value could not be found in something else.

Article Info

Article Type

Research Article

Publication history

Received: Wed 22, Jan 2020
Accepted: Mon 16, Mar 2020
Published: Mon 23, Mar 2020

Copyright

© 2023 Sanne Angel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Hosting by Science Repository.
DOI: 10.31487/j.SSG.2020.01.02