Abstract:
Purpose: This study aimed to identify the housing priorities of families living with persons with a spinal cord injury (SCI). Method: A new tool, the psycho-environmental housing priorities (PEHP), was developed following the principles of Q-methodology and based on the psycho-environmental model. The PEHP includes 48 items concerning housing needs that were presented to 29 persons with SCI and to 30 of their household members to determine the more important needs in their home. Results: Four different profiles of housing priorities emerged from the analysis, with persons with SCI and household members being dispersed across these profiles. Some needs, such as social contact and security, were identified as priorities in all the profiles while others, such as pleasure, were unique to some profiles. Conclusions: Our study highlights the heterogeneity of housing needs and the importance of addressing each family as unique when considering housing. The results also show that some housing needs ought to be considered because they were identified as important by everyone. Rehabilitation professionals could use the PEHP as a tool to help households living with a person with SCI plan their housing modifications to better meet the needs of all inhabitants.
Delphine Labbé <labbe.delphine@courrier.uqam.ca> is in the Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Québec, Canada.
