At The Mount Sinai Spinal Cord Injury Program, we offer several programs designed to facilitate community reintegration. Activities include the Life Challenge Adventure Program, several support groups including a women-only group, online Fitness Classes, a meditation group, a community access group called CARE and a structured peer mentoring program
Community Reintegration Programs
The Mount Sinai Community Access ReEntry (CARE) program promotes socialization, independence, and active leisure participation post injury. We achieve this by participating in community outings at various venues throughout the city. Individuals learn about accessibility and strategies for overcoming barriers to achieve optimum independence and quality of life.
Since its inception, the CARE program has taken many trips into the community to baseball games, Broadway shows, tours of NBC Studios, movies, restaurants, and film festivals. Our trips are organized through the Rehabilitation Medicine Recreational Therapy Services at The Mount Sinai Hospital.
If you are interested in the CARE Program, please contact our recreational therapists:
Nusrat Tanjum
Gunshot wounds are the third-leading cause of spinal cord injury (SCI) in the United States, only next to road traffic accidents and fall from heights, accounting for up to 14% of all spinal cord injuries. Here at Mount Sinai SCI, we recently started an in-person gun violence support group for individuals living with SCI, in an effort to raise awareness surrounding the issue of needless and senseless gun violence in our communities.
Our support group is held on the last Wednesday of every month. Light Refreshments are served. Contact Garrison.Redd@mountsinai.org if you are interested in attending.
The Life Challenge Program enables individuals with SCI opportunities to participate in activities that may seem impossible because of their disability. An SCI outreach coordinator organizes and supervises all activities, which vary from “simple and safe” local outings (e.g., attending a movie and going to a Broadway show) to out-of-town, “high-activity” day-long trips (e.g., horseback riding or kayaking), and from learning new leisure skills (such as swimming and scuba diving) to “on-the-edge” adventure trips (e.g., whitewater rafting, glider plane rides, skydiving, and snow skiing). By participating in a Life Challenge Program activity, individuals with SCI and their family members are invited to face community-based obstacles together. The goals of the Life Challenge Program are to:
- Educate newly injured persons about recreational activities in which they can engage within the community
- Introduce problem-solving strategies for overcoming obstacles in real life situations that are outside familiar surroundings
- Build confidence and self-esteem
- Create bonds among persons with SCI and establish peer networks in the community
Over the last 15 years, more than 300 individuals with SCI have participated in over 100 different Life Challenge Program events.
Check our Calendar for upcoming Life Challenge events. If you are interested in attending one of the trips or would like more information, please contact Garrison Redd at Garrison.redd@mountsinai.org.
Life Challenge Scholarship
The Andrew and Mary Bryce SCI Life Challenge Scholarship Fund provides financial support for persons to participate in the Life Challenge Program administered by the Mount Sinai Spinal Cord Injury Model System. For more information on the SCI Life Challenge Program, please contact Garrison Redd at Garrison.Redd@mountsinai.org
The SCI Peer Mentoring Program matches recently injured persons with trained mentors who are living successfully with SCI. The mentors, whom we have trained, provide support and guidance as the newly affected persons transition from the rehabilitation unit to the community. We pair mentees are paired with mentors based on common background and interests, while the newly injured person is still an inpatient. After mentees are discharged, their mentors support them for at least six months by phone, email, or in person.
The following are goals of our program:
- Educate newly injured persons about the physical, medical, social, vocational, and psychological aspects of SCI
- Provide emotional support and guidance
- Provide information regarding community organizations and resources
- Offer models of successful community integration for individuals with recent SCI
- Give mentors opportunities to build self-esteem and enhance their quality of life through service to others
Since our inception, we have trained 135 peer mentors with SCI in 13 peer mentor training sessions. We have matched more than 300 persons with recent SCI with peer mentors. Our popular program enhances mentees’ sense of empowerment, increases their knowledge about SCI and community resources, and augments their ability to communicate with professional and family members. We work closely with the New York Chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association where we recruit many peer mentors.
We have created a training manual for the Peer Mentoring program, as well as a manual to help other organizations and agencies develop SCI Peer Mentoring programs. The training manuals were created with the support of the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
If you would like to become a mentor or participate in peer mentoring training or would like to be paired with a mentor, please contact Garrison Redd at Garrison.redd@mountsinai.org.
SitGrit Live Group Exercise: Join us every Tuesdays 2-3pm and Thursdays 12-1pm for SitGrit classes.
Created by the Spinal Cord Injury Transitions Group of Mount Sinai and powered by Social Creatures, SitGrit is a free, fully seated, home-based aerobic and strength training workout for the upper body. Classes are held fully remotely on Zoom, and led by high-performance and Olympic fitness trainers. SitGrit is open to everyone. No workout equipment is needed to participate. The classes are open for all ages, fitness levels, and mobility levels. Classes include full upper body workouts, boxing, dance, yoga, and more! For more information on SitGrit Fitness visit their website: HERE.
A spinal cord injury (SCI) affects quality of life in many ways including personal health, feelings of safety and independence, and the ability to earn an income, access material comforts, have and raise children, and develop close relationships with significant partners and a supportive network of friends.
In the SCI Meditation Group, we use guided meditation to help patients develop a sense of mental and physical balance, build a foundation to nurture and grow. And learn to move through life with grace and ease.Our focus is to give those with SCI a safe place to come together, to support each other and share experiences, and to gain the confidence to be as independent as possible, with the best quality of life possible.
Join us Mondays from 12:00 – 1:00 PM on Zoom for our Well-being Meditation Group
To register and for more information contact Garrison Redd at Garrison.redd@mountsinai.org
The Transitions Group provides counseling, support, and education to all members, with an emphasis on facilitating adjustment to those who are more recently injured.
Our weekly group plays a powerful role in the lives of both inpatients and outpatients. Our topic-based group discusses a wide range of issues including loss and grief, overcoming fear, pitfalls of isolation, self-image, guilt, asking for help, dealing with the able-bodied world, dating, redefining your independence, family, and parenting. We even tackle more intense subjects such as self-blame, drug and alcohol dependence, depression, and “is life worth living after a spinal cord injury?” Our emotionally laden discussions are often softened by humor (frequently generated by the group members themselves), making discussions less intimidating and easier to participate in.
We also provide additional support and information. We give individuals with SCI the opportunity to try eating with adaptive equipment or being fed in a public setting. These are important hurdles to overcome to ensure a smooth transition into the community.
Our Weekly SCI Transitions Support Group Are Now Virtual! Every Wednesday at 12 PM, Noon Moderated by Angela Riccobono, Ph.D.
In order to maintain patient confidentiality, this group is open BY INVITATION ONLY. To request admission, please contact: Angela Riccobono, Ph.D. at angela.riccobono@mountsinai.org or Garrison Redd at Garrsion.redd@mountsinai.org.
Women on Wheels (W.O.W.) is a sisterhood of women with spinal injuries dedicated to living life to the fullest.
With the support of Mount Sinai Health System and New York City Spinal Cord Injury Association, our program has developed the first SCI women’s group in New York City. The SCI population is approximately 20 percent women, making us a minority within a minority in our society. We provide women with SCI the space to share their personal and intimate concerns with other women across age ranges, injury types and levels, and years of experience.
Our group meets weekly. We discuss various topics such as dating and sexuality, self-image, relationships with family, partners and friends, education, independence, co-dependence, self-advocacy, and dis/Ability as identity. We seek to empower, educate, and support one another.
Our group meets weekly, every Wednesday at 2:30 PM, virtually on Zoom
Please email Womenonwheelsnyc@gmail.com to RSVP and receive the code for the Zoom session.
For more information, please visit our website.
This group is for individuals with Spinal Cord Injury(SCI) to come together and share their experiences with each other so that we all can live a more fulfilling life with a spinal cord injury. Every Friday from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm conducted by Garrison Redd. To register and for any questions please contact Garrison Redd at Garrison.redd@mountsinai.org
