Wheelchair mobility among facility residents: Perils, pitfalls and promises (original) (raw)

TON (CANADA), and P. VISWANATHAN (CANADA) ISSUE The number of Canadians living with mobility impairments will grow exponentially over the next four decades as baby boomers age. Wheelchairs, perhaps the most recognized form of rehabilitation assistive technology, will become the primary source of mobility for many of these individuals. Although these devices have the potential to improve mobility, facilitate social participation and improve quality of life, frequently they do not to meet the needs of wheelchair users. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the judicious use of these devices can be compromised by decreased cognition, confidence, functional ability, as well as insufficient training, but little empirical evidence has been published about this form of assistive technology. CONTENT Findings from a recent series of graduate trainee research projects will be provided by 5 investigators representing different regions across Canada. The objectives for the symposium are to provide participants with insight into; (i) the use of the wheelchair by residential and community living older adults, including barriers and facilitators of use (ii) a clinical approach designed to improve the wheelchair skill of older residents of a nursing home; (iii) a newly identified construct, wheelchair use confidence, that may act as a barrier to independent wheelchair use; and (iv) new technology that may promote independent wheelchair use in older adults with dementia. STRUCTURE Each speaker will present a brief overview of their research findings and then the convenor will lead an audience oriented discussion to engage in dialogue about the future of wheeled mobility research among older adults. Drawing upon quantitative and qualitative data Mortenson will present insights for the barriers and facilitators of wheelchair mobility among older adults who live in residential care. Auger will provide an overview of how community-living older Canadians use their power mobility devices in various environments, presenting insight into the differences between new and experienced users. Smith will discuss lessons learned from a clinical trial designed to improve wheelchair skills among older residential-living Canadians. Rushton will present data regarding the prevalence of low confidence with wheelchair use among adult wheelchair users. Finally, Viswanathan will review advances made in the field of engineering and computer science with respect to the development of new 'smart' wheelchair technology which can learn about the environment and collaboratively work with the wheelchair user to promote independent mobility. CONCLUSION Developing a better understanding of wheeled mobility among older adults will better enable policy and practice changes improve outcomes among this population and insure their needs are met in the future.