Research update Laura Kuipers

My name is Laura Kuipers and I am studying for my master’s degree in Health Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. In the beginning of April, I went to Kelowna in British Columbia for the study of my internship with the support of the Student Research Award. My study aims to understand exercise counselling services for adults with spinal cord injury in Canada and the Netherlands, and to identify and compare counsellors’ knowledge, skills, barriers and confidence related to providing spinal cord injury-specific exercise counselling in Canada and the Netherlands.

I am studying at the University of British Columbia (Okanagan Campus). Research groups focusing on spinal cord injury, exercise and partnered research are focused here. I can attend meetings with very interesting discussions on this. By being in Canada, I am able to familiarize myself with the context in which exercise counselling occurs. There is a research gym for people with spinal cord injury and I went to a practice of wheelchair rugby. I like being able to learn more about Canada and seeing the beautiful nature!

Right now I am busy with recruiting participants for my study and next to this I am reading literature to write my manuscript. This is for example about the quality of physical activity participation of people with spinal cord injury. We are planning to do interviews with people with spinal cord injury to learn more about their experiences and perceptions regarding receiving exercise counselling. I am looking forward to all the new things I will learn during this trip and I am grateful to the Association for Canada Studies in the Netherlands for making this trip possible!