Designing patient education materials to increase independence.

The SCI nurse often has the responsibility to develop and utilize patient education materials related to various self-care routines and issues dealing with spinal cord injury that are comprehensive, understandable, and economical. The design and content of the material needs to be something that can be used as a teaching resource during the rehabilitation program as well as an information source after discharge. The SCI InfoSheets developed as a project of the Medical Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) in Secondary Complications in Spinal Cord Injury at the University of Alabama at Birmingham can be used to facilitate the goals of the SCI nurse in patient education.