Effect of Travel Direction, Body Position and Technique on the Ease of Getting an Occupied Wheelchair Over a Soft Surface

Effect of Travel Direction, Body Position and Technique on the Ease of a Caregiver Getting an Occupied Wheelchair Over a Soft Surface: a Randomized Crossover Trial

Wheelchair skills training is an important step in the wheelchair provision process. Caregivers play an important role in the lives of wheelchair users but very little is known about wheelchair skills training for caregivers. The goal of the study is to understand the effect of wheelchair travel direction, wheelchair occupant body position and technique used by caregivers on the ease of getting an occupied wheelchair over a soft surface.

Able bodied participants will be used to simulate caregivers and wheelchair occupants. Participants simulating caregivers will be asked to move the occupied wheelchair over a 5 m soft surface. Participants will be randomly assigned a direction to move the wheelchair (forward or backwards), wheelchair occupant body position (upright or leaning forward) and technique in moving the wheelchair (upright with all 4 wheels on ground or in a wheelie position with the wheelchair tipped backwards and balanced on the rear wheels). The ease of getting the occupied wheelchair over the soft surface will be evaluated by the amount of time taken to complete the task, how well the participant completed the task and the ease of performing the task as evaluated by the participant.

Inclusion Criteria:

• able to communicate in English,
• alert, cooperative, and competent to provide informed consent,
• willing to participate (as evidenced by attending the single data-collection session), and
• have no physical impairments that would prevent their being able to push and pull a wheelchair over a soft surface

Exclusion Criteria:

• have unstable medical conditions that might make the handling of a manual wheelchair dangerous, or emotional problems that might make participation unsafe or unpleasant.