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Forum on International Collaborative Research in Rehabilitation
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(CASE STUDIES: SUCCESSFUL INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION IN REHABILITATION RESEARCH)
Susan Charlifue, Ph.D.
(Cand.), M.A., Research
Supervisor
Research Department, Craig Hospital, Englewood, Colorado,
U.S.A.
Gordana Savic, M.D., Research Scientist
The National Spine Injuries Center, Stoke Mandelville Hospital, Aylesbury,
United Kingdom
Abstract
Since 1990, Craig Hospital has led an international investigation of ageing with spinal cord injury (SCI), collaborating with two leading centers of SCI care in Great Britain. Garnering resources on both sides of the Atlantic, five separate episodes of data collection have been conducted in 1990, 1993, 1996, 1999, and 2002. In the latter two phases, the investigators were joined by collaborators in Canada. Specific areas of interest have focused on changes over time with regard to health, functional, and psychosocial status. In addition, due to the longitudinal nature of the study, risk models have been developed to identify predictors of various health conditions. Challenges to this project have involved funding issues, identifying appropriate staff, ethics board issues, and subject retention over the 12 years of the study. Factors contributing to the success of the study include consistency among staff and procedures, and involving participants in an active, informed fashion.