The Rick Hansen Institute represents an exciting new approach to meeting the priority needs of Canadians with SCI and accelerating improvements to their quality of life. The Rick Hansen Institute is bringing together people with SCI, service providers, health care professionals, and researchers, all committed to working together with an unprecedented level of cooperation. This "solutions movement" is gaining momentum within our provinces and territories.

In a growing number of provinces, Provincial Solutions Teams (PSTs) have been established or are in the formative stages. A PST is a team of experts from the SCI community that develops a provincial SCI strategy based on the priority needs of people with SCI. Based on the Strategy, the teams mobilize in several ways:

• they work to obtain funding at the provincial level to carry out SCI research
• they identify and approve Quality of Life projects for funding from Wheels In Motion and other available sources
• they provide a forum for people with SCI, service providers, researchers, and any individual or organization to work together to identify and prioritize needs and collaborate around new and innovative ways to deliver solutions.

At the national level, the Rick Hansen Institute:

• works with existing PSTs to achieve our collective goals
• encourages and supports development of new PSTs
• along with the Rick Hansen Foundation, encourages visionary governments and corporations to invest in PSTs and be part of the solutions movement.

You can read about the work in various provinces using the menu at left.