Introduction

Climate change and spinal cord injury

Climate change and spinal cord injury

An article published on the journal Nature on October 21, 2019 calls for discussions about climate change and disability to take into consideration the impact that climate change has on people with spinal cord injury.

People with SCIs “remain the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and deserve the most attention,” writes Dr. Marcalee Sipski Alexander, Editor-in-Chief of Spinal Cord Cases and Series for Nature.

“Of all the causes of disability, spinal cord injury (SCI) with the potential for poikilothermia, difficulties with mobility, sensory dysfunction, and need for external devices easily tops the list as being the most significant condition causing vulnerability to the impacts of climate change,” Dr. Alexander explains. 

The article, called Sustainability and spinal cord injury: attending to climate change and disability, calls for professionals in the field to “look into the nuances of how our clinical practices can be fine-tuned to ascertain that they are sustainable and that we are doing our best to ensure people with SCIs maintain their quality of life despite the impacts of climate change”.

Dr. Alexander asks for submissions on the topic, adding that these will be added in a special section of the journal.

The author is developing a non-profit organisation called Telerehabilitation International, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.

You can read the full article here.