Professionals' knowledge, skills and confidence on using the best practices for spinal cord injury physical activity counseling in Canada and the Netherlands

CONTEXT: To improve physical activity (PA) participation in people with spinal cord injury (SCI), an international panel co-created theory- and evidence-based best practices for SCI PA counseling. This study aimed to identify and compare Canadian and Dutch counselors' knowledge, skills, and confidence in using these best practices.

METHODS: An online survey was conducted in Canada and the Netherlands. Respondents were included if they worked or volunteered as exercise/lifestyle counselor, recreation therapist, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, or peer mentor and were planning to provide counseling in the next 12 months. Chi-square tests, t-tests and linear regression analyses were used to compare groups.

RESULTS: Canadian ( n  = 45) and Dutch respondents ( n  = 41) had different expertise, with the majority of Canadians working as therapeutic recreation therapist and the majority of Dutch respondents working as PA/lifestyle counselor. In both countries, respondents scored relatively high on their knowledge, skills, and confidence in using the best practices on how to have a conversation and what to discuss during a conversation. Dutch respondents scored slightly higher in their confidence for using best practices about building rapport, motivational interviewing, and tailoring the support ( p  = 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The generally high counseling skills reported by Canadian and Dutch respondents may be due to the history of SCI-specific PA promotion projects conducted in both countries. These survey findings were used to inform the development of evidence-based training modules on SCI PA counseling. This study may inspire cross-country collaboration and exchange to optimize the organization and delivery of PA counseling services for adults with SCI.