Evaluation of the PAR-QoL Website – Stay Tuned for a Request for Feedback
Welcome to the last PAR-QoL Newsletter of 2013! It has been an exciting year for the PAR-QoL Project. Our site is averaging approximately 5,000 visitors per month from across the world, and incorporated this newsletter feature this past year to bring you important updates about PAR-QoL and other relevant information and events happening in the field of spinal cord injury (SCI).
To help ensure strong, continued use of the site, we are conducting an evaluation of the PAR-QoL tool-kit. We want to obtain your feedback on key components of the website such as ease of use and the usefulness of the site. The usability study is a brief 5-minute online survey.
To learn about this study, please click here or go to: http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/the-research-team/par-qol-usability-survey/
The PAR-QoL Team wants to thank you all for your continued support and interest, and wish you all a happy holiday season!
The PAR-QoL Tool-Kit hosted an expert spotlight session with Dr. Brett Smith, Psycho-social Health and Well-being strand Leader, Reader in Qualitative Health Research at the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport at Loughborough University, UK.
Between October 1 and November 11 (2013), visitors to the PAR-QoL website submitted questions to Dr. Smith to obtain his thoughts about SCI and quality of life research.
Dr. Smith’s answers to these questions are now posted on the PAR-QoL website and can be viewed.
The PAR-QoL Team would like to thank those who submitted their questions, and to thank Dr. Smith for taking time to share his insights and knowledge about the field.
Dr. Brett Smith
La trousse à outils sur PAR-QoL a tenu une séance de tribune d’experts avec le Dr. Brett Smith, un leader dans le domaine de la santé psychosociale et du bien?être, conférencier en recherche qualitative en santé au Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport at Loughborough University, au Royaume-Uni.
Entre le 1er octobre et le 11 novembre (2013), les visiteurs du site de PAR-QoL ont soumis leurs questions au Dr. Smith pour bénéficier de ses connaissances sur les lésions médullaires et la recherche sur la qualité de vie associée (ou autres recherches connexes). .
L’équipe de PAR-QoL aimerait remercier les personnes ayant soumis ces questions et le Dr. Smith d’avoir pris le temps de partager ses idées et ses connaissances dans ce domaine.
Upcoming Conferences – 2014
A number of conferences have opened up their call for abstracts.
The 6th National SCI Conference ‘Bioinformatics Informs SCI Rehabilitation’. The conference will be held in Toronto, Canada on September 2-4, 2014. Closing date for abstracts is January 27, 2014.
Visit www.sciconference.ca to learn more.
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91st Annual American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) Conference. Progress in Rehabilitation Research. The conference will be held in Toronto, Canada on October 7-11, 2014. Closing date for symposia is January 31, 2014 and the closing date for scientific papers and posters is March 14, 2014.
Visit http://www.acrm.org/meetings/2014-annual-conference to learn more.
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GTA Best Practices Day 2014, Faces of Complexity in an Evolving Rehab Environment. The conference will be held in Toronto, Canada on May 5, 2014. Closing date for abstracts is January 17, 2014.
Visit http://www.gtarehabnetwork.ca/best-practices-day-2014 to learn more.
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The 53rd International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) Annual Scientific Meeting. The conference will be held in Maastrict, The Netherlands on September 2-4, 2014. Closing date for abstracts is February 3, 2014.
Visit http://www.iscos.org.uk/meetings/2014-annual-scientific-meeting to learn more.
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International Perspectives on Spinal Cord Injury – WHO Report
As many as 500 000 people suffer a spinal cord injury (SCI) each year. People with spinal cord injuries are 2 to 5 times more likely to die prematurely, with worse survival rates in low- and middle-income countries.
The new World Health Organization (WHO) report, “International perspectives on spinal cord injuries”, summarizes the best available evidence on the causes, prevention, care and lived experience of people with SCI. The aims of this report are to:
- assemble and summarize information on spinal cord injury, in particular the epidemiology, services, interventions and policies that are relevant, together with the lived experience of people with SCI;
- make recommendations for actions based on this evidence that are consistent with the aspirations for people with disabilities as expressed in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
To learn more about the report and to download it, visit: http://www.who.int/disabilities/policies/spinal_cord_injury/en/
