Caregiver-aided Powered Wheelchair Skills

The Extent to Which Caregivers Enhance the Wheelchair Skills of Powered Wheelchair Users: a Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

There has been only minimal research on wheelchair skills by the caregivers of manual or powered wheelchair. There are no published data on the extent to which caregivers can enhance the mobility of powered wheelchair users. The primary objective of this study is to test the hypothesis that caregivers enhance the wheelchair skills capacity, confidence and performance of the powered wheelchair users to whom they provide assistance. Our secondary objective is to add to the literature on the measurement properties of the wheelchair skills test (questionnaire and capability version) for powered wheelchair users and their caregivers.

Inclusion Criteria:

• ≥ 18 years of age
• able to communicate in English and/or French (depending upon the site)
• live within 50 km of the research centre
• be willing to participate (as evidenced by completion of the assessment)
• be able to set a scheduled time for the study visit when both the caregiver and wheelchair user will be present and provide informed consent

Caregivers:

• must be an unpaid caregiver (e.g. a family member or friend)
• spend an average total of at least 2 hours per week with the powered wheelchair user that includes powered wheelchair mobility.

Wheelchair user:

• must have his/her own powered wheelchair
• use the powered wheelchair for at least 6 hours per week
• have a caregiver who spends an average total of at least 2 hours per week with the powered wheelchair user that includes powered wheelchair mobility.

Exclusion Criteria:

• have unstable medical conditions (e.g. angina, seizures) that might make the use of a powered wheelchair dangerous
• emotional problems (e.g. severe anxiety, depression) that might make participation unsafe or unpleasant