Research Goals

Our research aims at understanding, studying and developing approaches in order to achieve the best possible level of physical and mental functioning and health, comprehensive participation as well as social integration and equal opportunities for persons with spinal cord injury throughout their life, i.e. from the day of injury throughout possible aging-related complications due to paraplegia or tetraplegia during later years.

First, Swiss Paraplegic Research (SPF) wants to provide data and facts as a basis for in-depth analyses. Second, based on the new research findings, SPF wants to create the basis for developing measures and improvements on all levels. These clearly defined research findings are going to be used to determine demands and needs, e.g. for new and improved therapies, assistive devices and indications on how to provide labor market integration or prerequisites for necessary legislative changes.   

Moreover, it is the goal to strongly advocate for the implementation of the research findings to achieve tangible improvements already during ongoing research projects. SPF follows an approach called “GRIP” (Getting Research Into Practice).