Social Integration among Adults Aging with Spinal Cord Injury: The Role of Features in the Built and Natural Environment

This study looks at how the environment around us affects the social lives of adults who have been living with spinal cord injuries (SCI) as they get older. The study found that having more accessible features in the community, like curb cuts and automatic doors, made it easier for people with SCI to participate in social activities. The study also found that environmental barriers, like gravel surfaces and winter weather, made it harder for people with SCI to be socially active.

• 1
  Facilitating features in the community built environment were associated with almost a two-fold higher odds of regularly engaging in informal social activities.
• 2
  Fewer limiting features in the natural environment were associated with over a five-fold higher odds of engaging in regular informal social integration
• 3
  More facilitating features in the community built environment were associated with over a two-fold higher odds of engaging in more frequent formal social integration