The meaning of hope for individuals with spinal cord injury in Brazil

Abstract

Aim: To understand the meaning of hope among individuals with spinal cord injury. Design: A qualitative study employing the ethnographic method was used, with 18 individuals. Method: Participant observation was chosen to understand individuals with spinal cord injury and interviews were used to elicit information about the hope experience. The data were analysed using Ernst Bloch's theory of hope. Findings: Participants constructed their own personality and sense of self, including their hopes for their future, based on their life before their injury. Life after experiencing spinal cord injury highlighted the limitations and potentialities of their hopes. Using a sense of hope to establish goals for the future helped participants overcome obstacles. Conclusion: Hope in people with spinal cord injury helped them cope with the fundamental changes to their daily lives. Hope played an important role in articulating coping strategies and setting and achieving goals. These findings may help nurses understand the limits and potentialities of hope as an instigator of goals in the daily life of individuals with spinal cord injury.