Spouses of Persons with Spinal Cord Injury: Impact and Coping

The objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of the impact of spinal cord injury (SCI) on spouses. Twenty-four spouses (eighteen women and six men) of persons with SCI were interviewed individually. Analysing the interviews revealed that the impact of SCI is focused primarily on three main areas: leisure, domestic tasks and family responsibilities, and sexuality. Spouses apply several strategies to overcome the difficulties they encounter, such as setting aside time for hobbies without the spouse, hiring staff to reduce the increased task load, reshuffling roles to coincide with the capabilities of the person with the spinal cord injury and maintaining open, honest communication with one's spouse on the topic of sexuality. All these techniques, implemented and proven by experienced spouses, can be used as courses of action for clinical practitioners who work with spouses of people with disabilities in order to help them achieve a healthy balance in their life.