Together for Inclusive Care: Abbots Care & the Spinal Injury Association
Our Partnership With Spinal Injuries Association
Abbots Care is proud to partner with the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA), the leading charity dedicated to supporting people with spinal cord injuries. This collaboration outlines our commitment to providing exceptional care and support to those affected by spinal cord injuries.
Who are Spinal Injury Association?
SIA plays a crucial role in advocating for the rights and needs of people living with spinal cord injuries offering essential advice, support, and access to expert information. The association is instrumental in raising awareness about spinal cord injuries and ensuring that people receive the necessary treatment and care to lead a fulfilled life.
Through this partnership, Abbots Care aligns with SIA’s mission to empower people with spinal cord injuries, enhance their quality of life, and promote independence. Together, we strive to positively impact the lives of those we care for, ensuring they receive unique support tailored to their needs.
SIA was founded in 1974 by Baroness Masham of Ilton, one of Britain’s first Paralympians who sustained a spinal cord injury after a riding accident. Through her experiences, she realised the need for an organisation that could provide support and resources specifically for those with similar injuries. Since then, the organisation has grown and evolved, receiving 1300 support requests in 2023/24, highlighting the importance of advocacy not only for those it directly helps but also for the strain it relieves on the NHS. You can read more about SIA’s backstory here.
How SIA Supports People with Spinal Cord Injuries
The SIA’s work encompasses several key areas:
- Advocacy and Campaigning: SIA advocates for the rights of people with spinal cord injuries and campaigns on issues that affect their daily lives. This includes campaigning for better healthcare services, improved rehabilitation facilities, and greater accessibility in public spaces.
- Support Services: The charity offers a range of services designed to help those with spinal injuries. These services include a freephone advice line, peer support from others who have experienced spinal injuries, and publications that provide information on living with a spinal injury.
- Education and Training: SIA provides education and training for people with spinal cord injuries and healthcare professionals. This helps to ensure that people receive the best possible care and support and that they have the information they need to manage their condition effectively.
- Research: SIA supports research into spinal cord injury, to improve treatment and understanding of these injuries. This can involve funding research projects or collaborating with other organisations and institutions.
Spinal Injuries Association’s Projects:
The SIA has been involved in various projects over the years, some of which include:
- Back Up Trust and Aspire Partnership: SIA has partnered with Aspire and the Back Up Trust, two other charities that focus on supporting people with spinal cord injuries. Together they hope to promote nationwide conversation about the realities of those living with SCI in response to statistics such as: ‘only 1 in 3 newly injured people will have access to specialist care’.
- Forward Magazine: SIA publishes a magazine titled “Forward,” which provides news, stories, and information for the spinal cord injury community.
- The Frank Williams Academy: The Frank Williams Academy (named after the late Formula 1 driver and Williams co-owner) is a training initiative that provides education for people with spinal cord injuries, healthcare professionals, and legal professionals to improve understanding and management of SCI.
The Paralysed Bowel Campaign:
SIA has been involved in various campaigns aimed at improving the lives of people with spinal cord injuries. These campaigns can focus on a range of issues, from calling for changes in legislation to improve disability rights, to raising awareness about the challenges faced by those with spinal cord injuries.
Their ‘Bowel Care Awareness’ Campaign hopes to draw attention to an often overlooked aspect of SCI, bowel care. Through this campaign, they have carried out important research to highlight statistics such as:
- 54% of people in the survey who had been admitted to hospital in the last 2 years felt that their bowel function was handled badly by healthcare professionals.
- 34% of people who were hospitalised in the past 2 years felt that their bowels remained an ongoing problem following hospitalisation.
How Abbots Care Are Supporting the Spinal Injury Association
We are working on a series of informative articles to highlight the challenges faced by those with Spinal Injuries, such as how to navigate shops, pubs and more as a wheelchair user. We are also excited to announce we will be the headline sponsor at SIA’s ‘Superhero Triathlon’ event later this year.
At Abbots Care, we are committed to delivering compassionate care that maintains the client’s independence by utilising adaptive techniques and providing encouragement.
We support people with a variety of different SCI including: Acquired brain injury and neurological conditions, quadriplegia, paraplegia, tetraplegia and Autonomic dysreflexia. Discover more about our range of spinal injury home care services today.
To Find Out More
For more information about SIA, call 0800 980 0501 or visit their website https://www.spinal.co.uk/.
Find more information about our Spinal Injury Care services or phone a friendly member of our team on 0330 094 5511.
