We close the 5th edition of Vida Activa, program of empowerment, community training and initiation to independent living. This edition has had the participation of 5 people who have a spinal cord injury, some of them recently acquired and others of several years of evolution.

Accompanied by professionals from the Institut Guttmann and mentors, they have put into practice those tools that allow them to be as autonomous as possible in a real environment. Living for two weeks in the Guttmann Barcelona Life apartments, they experienced what it is like to live alone in a supportive environment and with the timely support of assistants. They have practiced and improved activities of daily living, cooked and taken care of the apartment. In addition, specific spaces within the program have been dedicated to working on transfers and handling the wheelchair.

In addition, they have been able to live different experiences, for some of them new, such as riding a horse, riding a handbike around the Banyoles lake, swimming, rugby, dance and body expression, training in a conventional gym, sailing under sail, and while taking advantage of conventional community resources. These activities have a double purpose: on the one hand, to motivate the participants to try new things and to see that there are ways to achieve that they can continue doing all kinds of activity and, on the other hand, to leave the comfort zone and that they put into practice everything they are learning but in a different context. In the case of sailing, for example, beyond enjoying a day at sea, the participants had to find a way to get in and out of the boat and then change clothes in a conventional changing room.

Another important element of the program are the workshops given by experts every afternoon on different topics of interest to the participants: wheelchair maintenance and mechanics, mobility support products, incontinence management, job placement and aspects legal, such as organizing accessible travel, peer support, sexuality and parenting. The aim of the workshops is to provide the participants with information of interest that they can then use for their day-to-day life and for making decisions according to their life project.

In conclusion, the 5th edition of the Vida Activa program has been an enriching and transformative experience for the five participants.The various activities, from the practice of daily life to new experiences, have sought for them to experience a participatory lifestyle, and it is an example of how empowerment and community support can make a big difference in the lives of women. people with disabilities.

We appreciate the collaboration in the program of the Barcelona International Sailing Center and the Catalan Sailing Federation, the Granollers Wheelchair Rugby team, the Mataró Swimming Center and BSwim, the DIR club, the Prevent Foundation.