Inclusion criteria included: diagnosis of SCI (C5 neurological level of injury and below, American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Classification Scale A-D), between 18 and 80 years old, and lived with their injury for at least one year. Exclusion criteria included: cognitive deficits preventing learning and carryover, medical problems that could impose a health risk (e.g., recent MI), and a primary disability that was not due to SCI.

Seven hundred and seventeen participants, who either were contacted by mail or called the project office, were invited to participate in this study. Specifically, project staff sent letters of invitation to 650 individuals from lists provided by the U-M Model SCI Care System, the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living (AACIL), and U-M PM&R outpatient clinic rosters. In response to a media campaign led by UMHS Public Relations Department, 67 interested persons with SCI also telephoned the project office to learn more about the study and were sent an invitation to participate. Of these 717 total invitees, 98 completed and returned an interest survey for investigator follow-up for possible admission to the study; 60 returned a barriers survey, which provided reasons for not wanting to enroll in the study.