Efficacy of leisure intervention groups and their impact on quality of life among people with spinal cord injury

Leisure is an important component in the lives of persons with disabilities and it is often associated with life satisfaction, self-esteem and depression. However, leisure specialists have all but ignored the leisure patterns and needs of people with disabilities. Thus this study attempts leisure intervention through groups by altering the attitude of patients towards leisure and subsequently finding out the effect on leisure satisfaction and quality of life. This study was a clinical trial conducted for patients with spinal cord injury who were evaluated using both the World Health Organization quality of life scale and the leisure satisfaction scale prior to intervention and afterwards. The experimental group had five 1 h-long group sessions as intervention while the control group had none. Twenty-five clients with paraplegia were included in both the experimental and the control groups. The mean ages of clients in both the groups were 33.40 and 37.24 years respectively. Significant improvements were observed in all domains of quality of life and leisure satisfaction in the experimental group as compared with the control group. The data show the definite impact of leisure satisfaction on quality of life. It is evident from the study that leisure intervention groups facilitate both leisure satisfaction and improved quality of life. Such an assertion definitely requires further research, corroboration and substantiation. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.