Spinal Injuries Association
Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) are the expert, guiding voice for life after spinal cord injury. Every year 4,400 people are injured or diagnosed with a spinal cord injury, with the total number of people with spinal cord injury in the UK now estimated at 105,000. SIA exists to support all these people, their families, friends, throughout their lives, whenever they need our services.
Our Mission:
Our mission is to reach everyone with a spinal cord injury, to tackle whatever barriers they face, and to connect them to all the help and support they need to flourish in their lives, in the way they want and choose.
Our Vision:
Our vision is for a fulfilled life for everyone affected by spinal cord injury
What we do:
Every two hours, a person’s life is changed when they sustain a spinal cord injury (SCI). Their world – and that of their family – is turned upside-down. Spinal cord injury can be caused by accidents, illnesses and health conditions.
Our NHS helps put newly injured people on the road to rebuilding their lives; we guide them throughout the rest of the journey.
Practical support
Life with SCI can look different to that led before injury. Our careers, relationships and even our homes might change. And this isn’t to say that has to be a negative. Essential to getting through the changes is the support of people who have been there before and understand what you’re going through. That’s why our support network is here to support newly injured people even before hospital discharge.
Our team of UK wide support coordinators can advise on everything from employment, travel, accessibility, housing, finances and more. They can also refer on to more appropriate services if they are unable to help with certain needs or enquiries.
While our NHS is put under increasing pressure the need for advocacy and support has never been greater. Thanks to our freephone support line, a listening ear is available on the end of the phone for all in the SCI community.
Clinical support
Our team of SCI clinical specialists, which includes nurses and occupational therapists, ensure every person with SCI gets the very best care wherever they receive it. The team can advise people with SCI and their loved ones on clinical care, such as bowel and bladder management and skin care, and can help create vitally important documents, such as the potentially life-saving emergency care plans.
The team also shares its many years of SCI specialist knowledge with other healthcare professionals through the Frank Williams Acdemy, ensuring that those who work with people with SCI have the opportunity to learn, educate and develop their knowledge across a wide variety of topics.
Emotional support
Our own research revealed the worrying scale of the psychological toll of spinal cord injury, with half of the people living with SCI in our study saying they had experienced mental health problems.
We also know that speaking with someone who can understand what you’re going through is especially helpful in times of need, which is why we offer all in the spinal cord injury community free talking therapies with our specialist counselling service run by people with SCI.
Amplifying SCI people’s voices
We believe every person with a SCI has the right to a fulfilled life and should be treated fairly and with respect. We also believe the SCI community should be listened to in the corridors of power where decisions that affect their lives are made – there should be nothing about us without us.
To ensure this happens, we campaign on the issues that matter to people with SCI and their loved ones. Among that which we push for are specialised mental health services, a better understanding of how the care crisis affects disabled people and adequate provision of vital specialist healthcare for all people with SCI.
SIA Community Groups
Our community groups are a great way of connecting to other people with spinal cord injury or cauda equina syndrome, their friends and families and they offer regular opportunities to socialise. We currently host 35+ free groups every month covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Contact Spinal Injuries Association
Address:
SIA House
2 Trueman Place
Oldbrook
Milton Keynes
MK6 2HH
Telephone
01908 604 191
Freephone Advice Line
0800 980 0501
Open 9.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday
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