Seeking Patient Care?
The University of Miami Department of PM&R, the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, and Jackson Rehabilitation Hospital are part of the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems (SCIMS) network.
The SCIMS is sponsored through the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) and includes 14 centers in the US. NIDILRR awards SCI Model Systems Center grants to institutions that are national leaders in SCI research and patient care, and that provide the highest level of comprehensive specialty services, from the point of injury through rehabilitation and re-entry into full community life.
The South Florida SCIMS’s research focusses on health and function in persons with SCIs. During the current five-year cycle of the program, we are undertaking a trial of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for the reduction of neuropathic pain, we are leading two collaborative projects with other SCIMS centers, one investigates the impact of different types of pain conditions on daily living, and the other tracks cardioendocrine disease risk factors in persons with SCI during the first two years after their injury. In addition, our center contributes information to the national database for SCI. Started in 1973, this collaborative effort among the Model System centers collects information about demographic characteristics and medical, physiological, and psychological outcomes after a SCI, starting from the time a person enters the hospital and continuing life-long follow-up every 5 years thereafter.
In addition to conducting research, the South Florida SCIMS’s mission includes providing information and resources to individuals with SCI, their family and caregivers, and health care professionals, based on state-of-the-science research and best practices guidelines. We coordinate our efforts with the Miami SCI support group to target topics of high importance to individuals living with a SCI.