Rick Hansen Institute
The Rick Hansen Institute is a Canadian-based, not-for-profit organization committed to accelerating the translation of discoveries and best practices into improved treatments for people with spinal cord injuries (SCI).
Headquartered in the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, The Institute leverages a global network of like-minded individuals and organizations to reduce the severity of spinal cord injury, improve their health care outcomes, and reduce health care costs.
Mission and vision
The Institute’s mission is:
- To lead collaboration across the global SCI community by providing resources, infrastructure, and knowledge
- To identify, develop, validate and accelerate the translation of evidence into best practices to reduce the incidence and severity of paralysis after SCI, improve health care outcomes, reduce long-term costs, and improve quality of life for those living with SCI.
…towards a vision of a ‘world without paralysis after spinal cord injury’.
History
The Rick Hansen Foundation exists because of Rick Hansen’s leadership and tenacity, and his unparalleled ability to achieve “the impossible.” It is his vision that continues to motivate all those working together to reduce the impact of spinal cord injury and improve the quality of health of those living with a SCI.
25 years ago, Rick Hansen had a dream – to make the world more accessible and inclusive and to find a cure for paralysis after spinal cord injury. Inspired by a deep-seated belief that anything is possible, Rick’s “big dream” took shape in the form of the Man In Motion World Tour. For 26 months, he and his team wheeled more than 40,000 km through 34 countries, raising awareness of the potential of people with disabilities. Following the Tour, Rick established the Rick Hansen Foundation to continue his quest for an accessible and inclusive society and a cure for spinal cord injury.
Rick also dreamt of true collaboration across the SCI community. He established the SCI Network with funding from the Canadian government and later, the SCI Solutions Alliance, the Rick Hansen SCI Registry, and the SCI Translational Research Network. These were incorporated into The Rick Hansen Institute, a single, independent organization dedicated to addressing priority needs and generating solutions for people with SCI.
Activities
Significant progress has been made in the field of SCI research, treatment and services in Canada. The Institute works in three core program areas:
1. Translational Research - with a focus on:
- Acute Care and Treatment: seeking breakthroughs in treatments given to patients immediately following injury that reduce the level of paralysis.
- Rehabilitation: seeking breakthroughs in rehabilitation that restore function and reduce the impact and incidence of secondary complications such as pressure ulcers.
- Community Integration: seeking breakthroughs that allow people with SCI to regain independence and more successfully reintegrate into their communities.
2. Best Practices Implementation - working to affect the changes in clinical practices necessary to achieve the best possible health outcomes for Canadians with SCI, from acute care to community integration by:
- Translating knowledge gained from work in translational research and customized solutions into best practice descriptions.
- Seeking out and promoting solutions that are already best practices but haven’t yet been widely adopted.
- Transferring knowledge of best practices among SCI practitioners, institutions and organizations.
- Working closely with the SCI community — across the continuum of treatment/care/support — to achieve the above.
- Partnering with Accreditation Canada to create standards of care for people with spinal cord injury – the first in the world.
3. Rick Hansen SCI Registry - an unprecedented, nationwide project that is collecting critical information on SCI at every major Canadian acute care and rehabilitation hospitals across the country. The Registry is an invaluable resource for researchers and clinicians seeking to better understand SCI and the effectiveness of specific treatments, practices or programs for improving functional outcomes and quality of life after SCI.
Spinal cord injury in Canada
Spinal cord injury is one of the greatest survivable catastrophes experienced by a human being. Regardless of cause or age at injury, SCI has a devastating impact on an injured person's health and well-being, and far reaching consequences for individuals, their families and the health care system.
Required care is highly specialized and complex - including costs for acute, rehabilitative, emergency, primary mental health, home and long term care and adaptive equipment - resulting in substantial financial costs for governments.