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Improving wheelchair prescription: an analysis of user needs and existing tools

Issue title: IEA 2012: 18th World congress on Ergonomics - Designing a sustainable future

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Moody, Louise | Woodcock, Andree | Heelis, Mike | Chichi, Cynthia | Fielden, Simon | Stefanov, Dimitar

Affiliations: Centre of Excellence in Product & Transport Design, Department of Industrial Design, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK. | Regional Posture and Mobility Service, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust (BCHNT), 91 Oak Tree Lane, Selly Oak, Birmingham, B29 6JA | Health Design & Technology Institute, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK. | Faculty of Engineering and Computing, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK.

Note: [] Corresponding author. E-mail: L.moody@coventry.ac.uk

Keywords: wheelchair stability assessment, wheelchair prescription, Wheel-SAS

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-2012-0418-1980

Journal: Work, vol. 41, no. Supplement 1, pp. 1980-1984, 2012

Published: 2012
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Abstract

Wheelchair users experience many situations that affect the stability and associated performance of their wheelchair. Stability is affected by user characteristics and abilities, environmental features and conditions, and wheelchair modification and accessories. Wheelchair prescribers need effective tools and methods to provide quantitative evaluation and prediction of the behavior of the user-wheelchair system in a variety of static and dynamic situations. Such information is very important to guide efficient management of associated risks and adjust chairs accordingly. This project involves a user-centered approach for design and evaluation of a load cell based wheelchair stability assessment system (Wheel-SAS). Here, the current methods for assessing stability are described, and their shortcomings explained. The user-centered design approach being applied to the development of the associated Wheel-SAS hardware and software is described. Future work including semi-structured interviews and an online survey with wheelchair prescribers and associated healthcare professionals for deriving user requirements and a design specification for a load cell system for measuring dynamic wheelchair stability are detailed.

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