Scenario:
You are a certified rehabilitation counselor (CRC) and licensed professional counselor (LPC) employed at a Rehabilitation and Treatment Hospital. You are a member of an interdisciplinary team for the Limb Deficiency Unit.
Elias is a 70-year-old retired university economics professor. Prior to his SCI he lived independently in a wheelchair accessible apartment style condominium, had a grown child who lived across the country, and exercised at the local gym every weekday morning at 6:00am. This fit gentleman of 180 lbs., 5’9” with no other significant co-morbidities was involved in a hit and run collision while walking to the gym early one morning, and two weeks post injury was admitted to a spinal cord injury rehabilitation unit. He was examined on day 14 post injury. He was out of spinal shock and described as having an AIS C T12 level spinal cord injury.
Discuss the following items.
1. Discuss the functional goals for injury at T-12 level.
2. How will you explain these different functional goals to Elias and family members in layperson’s terms?
3. How will a person’s ASIA scale classification impact his/her functional goals?
4. Of various functional goals, which do you think is most important psychosocially, and why? Explain your thoughts lucid and succinct.
5. Of various functional goals, which do you think is most important for pleasure e.g., hobby and why? Explain your thoughts lucid and succinct.
