In the US, there are over 400,000 people living with some kind of paralysis. To ensure all their needs are met, the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research helped create the Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Model System. The Administration for Community Living and the US Department of Health and Human Services sponsors this all-encompassing model system for people with SCI.
The SCI Model System is more than just a badge or bragging rights for an institution. It means the institution is involved in important research and they receive federal funds as a result. To learn more about the SCI Model System, continue reading below.
The SCI Model System references the brick-and-mortar location of several quality SCI rehabilitation institutions across the country. Currently, there are 14 SCI Model System Centers across the country. These institutions meet the high standards required to become part of this prestigious system. In fact, they must be national leaders in medical research and patient care.
Each SCI Model System Center must provide the highest level of comprehensive specialty services available to someone with a spinal cord injury. This means each institution must meet not only the patient’s medical needs but their rehabilitation needs, vocational needs, the opportunity to take part in a clinical trial, and more.
Simply put - the institution must be there for the patient from the beginning of their injury to helping them reenter the community and they must help learn how to live a full life after their injury. When an institution is able to meet all of these criteria, it is then recognized as an SCI Model System Center by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research and they’re awarded a grant.
