Physical activity promotion in Spanish adults with spinal cord injury: community guidelines, supporting resources and messaging strategies

Purpose: The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to develop spinal cord injury (SCI) physical activity (PA) community guidelines suitable for a Spanish context; (2) to generate seminal resources for supporting PA participation in Spain and, potentially, other Spanish speaking countries; and (3) to identify potential communication strategies for delivering the guidelines and resources. Materials and methods: 19 people with SCI, 4 healthcare professionals, a partnership champion, two critical friends, and two SCI experts participated in a co-designed process of knowledge translation (KT). Available international resources were used as initial prototypes. Focus group discussions, qualitative surveys and member reflections were used to gather relevant insights and action a process of iterative prototyping of the KT products. Results: One infographic, one booklet and two videos were produced. The participants of this research support a model of PA messaging focused on short conversations with a variety of PA messengers, including social workers and occupational therapists. A formal partnership with a neurorehabilitation hospital was established and informed this work throughout. Conclusions: The research has resulted in new resources tailored to Spanish SCI population to promote and support physically active lifestyles. Professionals within and beyond rehabilitation should support Spanish-speaking adults with spinal cord injury to be, and stay, active.We encourage them to use and combine each of the Spanish resources presented in this article, which were co-designed with people with spinal cord injury lived experience.The unique co-design process we describe in the article, based on iterative prototyping, shows that rehabilitation services can play a key role in translating knowledge into practice and benefit from doing so.When communicating the physical activity guidelines for adults with spinal cord injury in Spain, it is important to acknowledge that becoming active is not an immediate, linear process, as well as to foreground notions of quality of life, community, and enjoyment. Professionals within and beyond rehabilitation should support Spanish-speaking adults with spinal cord injury to be, and stay, active. We encourage them to use and combine each of the Spanish resources presented in this article, which were co-designed with people with spinal cord injury lived experience. The unique co-design process we describe in the article, based on iterative prototyping, shows that rehabilitation services can play a key role in translating knowledge into practice and benefit from doing so. When communicating the physical activity guidelines for adults with spinal cord injury in Spain, it is important to acknowledge that becoming active is not an immediate, linear process, as well as to foreground notions of quality of life, community, and enjoyment.