Development of Tissue Integrity indicators to advance the quality of spinal cord injury rehabilitation: SCI-High Project

This study focuses on creating ways to measure and improve the care of skin health for people with spinal cord injuries. Tissue breakdown is a frequent complication following SCI/D, and maintenance of tissue integrity and pressure injury prevention has become an important patient safety priority. The goal is to find ways to prevent pressure injuries, which are a common problem for individuals with SCI/D. This includes looking at things like access to mirrors for skin checks and making sure patients are taught how to care for their skin. The project aims to set up ways to track how well hospitals and clinics are doing in preventing these injuries, with the hope of improving the quality of life for people with SCI/D and reducing the costs to the healthcare system.

• 1
  The study identified key indicators to monitor tissue integrity, including ensuring patients have access to mirrors for skin checks and patient education on tissue integrity.
• 2
  A process indicator was identified as monitoring the proportion of patients who completed daily head-to-toe skin checks.
• 3
  Outcome indicators included pressure injury incidence during inpatient rehabilitation and the proportion of individuals with intact skin at 18 months following rehabilitation admission.