A Better Everyday Life for the Spinal Cord Injured
Spinalis Foundation
Power to injured backs
The Spinalis Foundation was founded in 1989 with the mission to initiate and support research and development within the field of spinal cord injury. The goal is to enable people with spinal cord injury (SCI) to live a fulfilling everyday life.
About the Spinalis Foundation
The Spinalis Foundation is a charitable foundation with the mission to promote research and develop treatments for people with SCI. In Sweden we are a proactive force within SCI rehabilitation. Our medical research projects are closely linked to the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
Funding is raised from several sources, companies, individuals as well as from other foundations.
Research and development
Spinalis in India
At the Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences, a university hospital in a rural area of Maharashtra, India, a SCI-rehabilitation unit has been developed with the support of staff from Spinalis.
The unit has been running since 2017 and Inka Löfvenmark spends time there once or twice yearly to teach and guide the continuing progress. Katarzyna Trok, Dawid Feder and Erika Nilsson have also been visiting and contributed with their knowledge and engagement.
During the past year, Spinalis has collaborated with organizations in Ukraine to increase the knowledge for persons living with spinal cord injuries.
Both the book The Art of Healthy Living with Physical Impairments and the Spinalis Handbook have now been translated and printed in Ukraine.
Additionally, the folder Food, Weight, and Health for People with Spinal Cord Injury has been translated.
Meet the founder of Spinalis whose dedication and drive never seems to end.
Professor Claes Hultling is a medical doctor and a skilled public speaker. In May 1984 Claes dived in shallow water, broke his neck and became paralyzed from his chest down. Ever since, he has traveled the world on his crusade to increase knowledge and to promote the best possible life for persons living with spinal cord injuries.
See the Spinalis Foundation’s involvement in the work of establishing rehabilitation units in Africa.
Health and lifestyle
The folder Food, weight and health for people with spinal cord injury is now available in 14 languages.
Anna-Carin Lagerström, RPT, MSc, Health Educator, has dedicated many years of professional work to pioneer clinical practice and scientific studies in health and lifestyle for persons living with physical impairments, especially in the field of spinal cord injury.
The book The Art of Healthy Living with Physical Impairments can be downloaded as a pdf-file (available in both English and Ukrainian).
SCI Parenting
Many of these individuals are at an age where they consider starting a family. Having children requires major changes in any family. If one parent also has a spinal cord injury, many questions arise that can be difficult to answer.
SCI Parenting is a website aiming to increase knowledge regarding fertility, pregnancy, childbirth and parenting for people living with SCI.
Online Project
With a range of digital activities our project DRIV encourage people living with SCI to sustain a healthy lifestyle.
Spinalis International
The Foundation was instrumental in opening SCI units in Botswana and Namibia. The goal, to develop national rehabilitation units for people with spinal cord injury, was reached.
Now 10 years later, the units are running and is run by local staff however, maintaining trained staff and high-quality care and rehab is a constant challenge.
SCI Community
10 years ago, the Spinalis Foundation started the community “SCI Sweden” to strengthen the community.
The Facebook groups, covering target groups such as parents in wheelchairs, women with SCI, high tetraplegics, family members, and many more, now gather more than 5 000 members from Sweden and neighboring countries.
In the group the members get to share thoughts, feelings and experiences of living with SCI.
