Perceived influence of the environment on social participation among individuals with spinal cord injury

Abstract

There is a need to better understand the influence of environment in the lives of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) so that interventions can be proposed to enhance life satisfaction. The purpose of the study was to identify the major perceived environmental facilitators and obstacles to social participation. Data collected with the Measure of Quality of Environment suggest that most primary environmental facilitators are social, whereas the main obstacles are physical. Moreover, the perceived influence of the environment varies among individuals according to their personal characteristics (age, gender, level of injury), which illustrates the dynamics of the interactive process between personal (intrinsic) and environmental (extrinsic) factors.