{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,26]],"date-time":"2026-09-26T14:44:55Z","timestamp":1790433895324,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,10]],"date-time":"2026-04-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775779200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Special Account for Research Funds (ELKE) of the University of West Attica","award":["80793"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["80793"]}]},{"award":["80793"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["80793"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00r2r5k05","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to long-term changes in mobility, bodily function, and everyday participation, extending beyond physical impairment to affect autonomy, identity, and social inclusion. In Greece, limited community-based rehabilitation services, environmental inaccessibility, and fragmented follow-up care further shape the lived experience of individuals with SCI. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences and perceived rehabilitation needs of people with paraplegia living in the community, adopting a phenomenological approach to understand rehabilitation as an ongoing process of reclaiming autonomy, dignity, and participation. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological design was employed. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with fourteen individuals with paraplegia following SCI. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke\u2019s reflexive thematic analysis, supported by ATLAS.ti software. Results: Participants described living with SCI as a \u2018Socially lived disability: a daily confrontation with an inadequate system and the ongoing struggle for accessibility, autonomy, and dignity\u2019 (Overarching Theme). Participants\u2019 experiences were organized into six themes: (A) facing the new reality, (B) barriers and facilitators of independent living, (C) role and importance of rehabilitation, (D) me and others around me, my difference, (E) the need for adequately trained and informed health professionals and caregivers, (F) ageing as an additional challenge. Conclusions: Living with SCI is experienced as an ongoing process of embodied and social reorientation, in which autonomy, participation, and dignity are continuously negotiated rather than restored once and for all. Rehabilitation emerges as a lifelong, person-centered process that extends beyond functional recovery to support bodily confidence, accessibility, social inclusion, and quality of life across the life course. These findings highlight the need for coordinated, community-based rehabilitation systems, accessible environments, and adequately trained health professionals capable of addressing the evolving functional, social, and existential realities of individuals living with SCI.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15082878","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,10]],"date-time":"2026-04-10T09:08:12Z","timestamp":1775812092000},"page":"2878","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Spinal Cord Injury as a Socially Lived Disability: A Phenomenological Study of Rehabilitation and Everyday Life Among Community-Dwelling Individuals"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-7647-1270","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dimitra","family":"Karadimitri","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiotherapy, School of Health and Care Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3340-1444","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christina-Anastasia","family":"Rapidi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical & Rehabilitation Medicine, General Hospital \u201cG.Gennimatas\u201d, 11527 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8443-8303","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stelios","family":"Parissopoulos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nursing, School of Health and Care Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5099-8839","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dimitrios","family":"Skempes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiotherapy, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, 41500 Larissa, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5458-8485","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Savvas","family":"Spanos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiotherapy, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, 41500 Larissa, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2649-0522","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria","family":"Tsekoura","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiotherapy, School of Health Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9481-996X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vasiliki","family":"Sakellari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiotherapy, School of Health and Care Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"386","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.sc.3102159","article-title":"Health-related outcomes of people with spinal cord injury: A 10-year longitudinal study","volume":"46","author":"Dorsett","year":"2008","journal-title":"Spinal Cord"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"469","DOI":"10.1080\/10790268.2018.1517471","article-title":"Contextualizing the lived experience of quality of life for persons with spinal cord injury: A mixed-methods application of the response shift model","volume":"42","author":"Rohn","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. 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