How do you deal with patients with a spinal cord injury who don’t want to use a wheelchair? - Samuel Gordon, PhD

We certainly understand that for some individuals that their main idea about going through rehab is to be able to walk. But we try to let them know that this wheelchair doesn’t necessarily have to be permanent, it’s a way to get them closer and closer to being more independent. Letting them know that indeed that this isn’t necessarily permanent but it’s a means to an end. That at least gets them out of the bed into the wheelchair, and then they find out when they’re in a wheelchair that they’re able to do more and enjoy life a lot better. It makes it a little easier for the patient to accept the wheelchair as a temporary strategy to get closer and closer to being independent.