The summer is finally upon us, and it is time to embrace the sunshine and check out all the fun things there are to do in your city! It’s my first summer in Toronto, and I am determined to be as thorough of a tourist as possible. I have been brainstorming fun things to do, and thought I’d share some ideas. I would love to hear from you, about your favourite things to do and see!
Before we get started, check out some sites that track accessible things to do in Toronto to ensure nothing gets in the way of your plans. AccessTO is a great resource that can be used to determine if a place is accessible! And download the AccessNow app, for on-the-go information about accessibility!
Go for a Sail
Anchors away! The Disabled Sailing Association of Toronto can offers adaptable sailing to members and non members. A great way to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city, and learn a new skill! An annual membership costs $50. Members pay only $15, non-members $30 for an hour and a half of sailing.
Hit the Beach
Both Woodbine Beach and the Centre Island Beach have water wheelchairs available for rent, and mats out to the water! Find out more on the City of Toronto website. Pack a picnic, slap on some sunscreen and enjoy the sunshine (we deserve it after that winter we just had!)
Climb the CN Tower
Accessibility information for the CN tower is available here. The views are spectacular, especially on a clear day! If you live in Toronto and have never been up the tower, maybe make this summer the one you finally cave in and climb the iconic landmark to see if the views live up to all the hype! If you’re a tourist, you can’t miss it.
Check Out the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)
Accessibility information is available here for the ROM. Friday nights at the ROM until the end of the month feature Friday Night Live for adults. Each week has a theme, with live music and general good times. If you aren’t into that, the general museum is a must-see anyways! Check out the featured fashion exhibit!
Explore a Brewery
As the weather heats up a nice cold beer on a patio is a great way to spend a few hours. Craft breweries have been sprouting up everywhere, and Toronto is no exception. If you and your friends like beer, consider organizing a beer tasting tour around Toronto, hitting a different brewery each weekend and ranking your favourites! Check AccessTO for a list of accessible breweries.
Embrace the Soccer Fever with a Toronto FC (TFC) Game!
While Canada always seems to be slightly excluded from the World Cup, with Toronto being such an diverse city the soccer fever will be intense this summer! Catch a TFC game at the accessible BMO field, to get in on the party!
Cheer on Some Other Teams
If soccer isn’t your thing, Toronto has other options! Catch a Jays game at the accessible Rogers Center or a Rugby game with the new Toronto Wolfpack at the Lamport Stadium!
Shakespeare-It-Up in the Park
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Get classy and enjoy the theatre at Shakespeare in High Park. Bring a picnic, and spend some time in the sun with the Bard. If you call ahead, there are accessible seats available.
All of these places are accessible by transit. If you find the TTC difficult to manoeuvre, check out the Braze Sentina, which provides 180 degrees of rear-view blind spot coverage, making backing onto and off of busses, streetcars and subways much easier!
**I don’t use a wheelchair, so I relied on AccessTO and the destination’s website to determine accessible things to do in Toronto. If you have any suggestions or changes, please comment or email us at info@brazemobility.com!**
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Upon investigating the prevalence of wheelchair collisions, the amount of vehicle collisions with pedestrians using wheelchairs was shocking. According to Kraemer & Benton (2015), people who use wheelchairs are 36% more likely to die in a collision with a vehicle than other pedestrians. Additionally, reportedly in 2009, fatal vehicle accidents took the lives of 60 wheelchair users in the United States. This tragic statistic makes it clear the need for improved road safety for wheelchair users. Here are some ideas of ways to improve safety for navigating roads in a wheelchair.
1. Increase Your Visibility
The reason for the increased risk for pedestrians who use wheelchairs is speculated by Reuters (2015) to be due to decreased visibility of wheelchairs. This is supported by LaBan & Nabity (2010), who found that accidents between motor vehicles and wheelchairs were most likely to occur between dawn and dusk. Here are some easy (and low cost!) ways you can increase the visibility of your wheelchair.
Use a Flag
Sitting in a wheelchair may place you out of the field of view of car drivers, increasing your risk of being in a collision. You can increase your visibility by using a flag that sticks up from your chair. This is a very low cost solution. But be aware- these flags typically attach to the backrest of the chair, which makes them visible only when you are fully in the driver’s field of view.
Install Lights
Lights can be added to your chair when ordering, or can be added after. They can be expensive when purchased from wheelchair manufacturers, however low-cost stick on lights can be added. Tetra Gear offers light attachments designed specifically to increase visibility in wheelchairs. Alternatively, you can check out your local dollar store or hardware store for lights to attach to your wheelchair if you are feeling creative!
Wear Reflective Gear
Reflective gear may not be the highest fashion option, but safety is way cooler than fashion any day! When driving at night in areas you know aren’t well lit, you could use reflective vests or jackets, or attach reflective decals to your chair.
Make Eye Contact with Car Drivers Before you Cross the Road
No matter how visible your chair may seem, drivers of cars may not be paying attention, or looking for wheelchairs. When crossing the road, try taking an extra second to make eye contact with the driver of the car to ensure that they see you. When in doubt, wait for the car to pass (and give them a shaming look for failing to look out for wheelchairs)!
2. Follow All Traffic Laws
Anyone who uses a mobility device, including wheelchairs and mobility scooters must follow all laws for pedestrians under the Highway Traffic Act in Ontario. This includes driving on a sidewalk wherever possible, and returning to the sidewalk as soon as possible when no sidewalk is available. When driving on the road, you must drive facing oncoming traffic, on the left hand shoulder of the roadway. Jaywheeling is both illegal and dangerous. The extra 5 minutes that it takes to get to a crosswalk is worth it to stay safe!
Unfortunately, following the law is not a guarantee of safety. Approximately 47.6% of fatal collisions between cars and wheelchairs occurred in intersections, with 47.5% of pedestrians in wheelchairs using a crosswalk at the time of collision and 18.3% had no crosswalk available (Kraemer & Benton, 2015). In all of these cases, the pedestrian was likely following the law. Be cautious at all times
3. Be Prepared
In 2009, 20% of collisions between wheelchairs and cars were hit and runs (LaBan & Nabity, 2010). Make sure that you have access to a phone, and can call for help in case of an accident. If accessing your phone is difficult, check out the Tecla, which allows you to control a phone using an alternative access switch or wheelchair controller.
Plan Ahead of Time
This can include making sure that your battery is fully charged, or planning to use public transit or an alternative route in areas without sidewalks.
Properly Maintain your Wheelchair
Ensure that your chair is maintained properly to avoid preventable accidents, such as from faulty breaks or batteries. If something doesn’t seem right on your chair, have someone look at it. Trust your intuition, no one knows your chair better than you!
4. Be Aware of your Surroundings
In busy areas, it is important to know exactly what is going on around you to prevent being hit yourself, or running someone over. Most wheelchairs have large blind spots that can be difficult to monitor, especially in crowded areas. Braze Mobility makes a blind spot sensor system that monitors what is happening in your blind spots and makes navigating in tight spaces easier.
Thanks for joining us! If you have any safe driving tips that you think we missed, please comment below! Stay safe out there!
References
- Kraemer, J. D., & Benton, C. S. (2015). Disparities in road crash mortality among pedestrians using wheelchairs in the USA: results of a capture–recapture analysis. BMJ open, 5(11), e008396.
- LaBan, M. M., & Nabity Jr, T. S. (2010). Traffic collisions between electric mobility devices (wheelchairs) and motor vehicles: Accidents, hubris, or self-destructive behavior?. American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation, 89(7), 557-560.
- Rapaport, L. (2015) Wheelchair users More likely to die in car crashes. Reuters.
Recently, I took a power wheelchair for a test drive through downtown Toronto, Ontario. Within a two hour period, I had hit at least 2 doorways, and narrowly missed the ankles of more than one person with my footrests (thankfully being Canadian they jumped out of the way of my rampaging chair with a cheerful “sorry”), avoiding any wheelchair collisions while power wheelchair driving.
This experience made it very clear the challenges associated with driving a power wheelchair-especially in a tight space. The following blog series will focus on the danger associated with operating power mobility devices, and how we can reduce that danger and improve access to power wheelchairs.
It is important to understand the risks associated with power wheelchair use in order to find ways to minimize risks while maximizing the independence of users. It is, however, difficult to measure the prevalence of collisions incurred by power wheelchair users. Statistics are difficult to obtain, as there is no central reporting centre for power wheelchair accidents. There are some research studies that have been done to evaluate the incidence of collisions for power wheelchair users.
Statistics of Wheelchair Collisions for Power Mobility Devices
Many of these studies are focused on the use of power mobility devices in an institutional setting. Here is a brief summary of the results of some of these studies:
- Frank et al. (2000) found that within 4 months of receiving a power mobility device, 13% (15 out of 113) of people surveyed reported at least one accident, including tipping from chairs and falls during transfers.
- Mortenson et al. (2005) report that The Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) residential facility which has 82 residents using power wheelchairs, reported 16 incidents of property damage in one year from power wheelchair use. This is a conservative estimate, as the author notes that only serious accidents were reported. There were likely far more minor incidents that were not reported.
- Reed, Yochum and Schloss (1993) reported that 30% of long-term care residents surveyed felt that other drivers within the facility drove unsafely.
Challenges with Power Wheelchair Driving and Drivers
Clearly, within an institutional setting, many power wheelchair users have difficulty safely navigating their environment. In such institutions, there is a very high density of power wheelchair users, along with narrow corridors and many obstructions in hallways which present challenges to drivers. One major factor identified as contributing to decreased safety in high density areas is a lack of conformity between drivers.
Mortenson et al. (2005) write that a lack of driving rules for wheelchair drivers in an institution can result in animosity between and towards power wheelchair drivers. For example, not designating a regulated side of the hallway to drive on increases the likelihood of collision and creates an atmosphere of blame and animosity towards power wheelchair drivers (Mortenson et al., 2005).
Challenges Of Wheelchair Navigation for Power Wheelchairs
Measuring statistics only in institutions provides an incomplete view of the magnitude of the prevalence of collisions among power mobility device users. Many wheelchair users that live in the community also suffer accidents, and when navigating through traffic the consequences can be catastrophic. Mortenson et al. (2005) found that six out of ten interviewed power wheelchair drivers report that driving in the community is more difficult than diving in an institution.
Survey of Power Wheelchair Useability
A survey of wheelchair users by Arthanat et al. (2009) found that the usability of power wheelchairs in the community is low. About 40-50% of those surveyed reporting that usability was moderate to very low in the community. The difficulty in navigating in the community with a power wheelchair has been observed by multiple surveys.
- Navigating a wheelchair in traffic is a large hazard of navigating within the community. LaBan & Nabity (2010) found that sixty fatal accidents occurred between a motorized vehicle and a wheelchair in one year. Of these accidents, 94% involved a power wheelchair.
- Chen et al. (2011) surveyed 95 active community wheelchair users about the number of collisions experienced. 52 (54.7%) of wheelchair users reported experiencing at least one collision, and 16 (16.8%) reported experiencing 2 or more collisions within a three year period.
- A report from Edwards and McClusky (2010) of Australian power mobility device users found that one-fifth of respondents (21%) reported having an accident in the previous year when using their device. The most commonly reported accidents were caused by running into doors and walls, the device tipping over, being hit by a car or knocking into/over objects such as shop displays.
- Arthanat et al. (2009) found that 52.8% of wheelchair users surveyed had experienced at least one accident (collision or fall) that resulted in injury.
Clearly, the issue of accidents in power wheelchair driving is prevalent. It is important to start a conversation regarding the risks and rewards of power wheelchair use! If you have experienced a collision in your power wheelchair, or know someone who has, leave a comment!
Want to learn more about what Smart Wheelchairs can do to prevent wheelchair collisions? Download our FREE E-Book on Smart Wheelchair Technology!
References
- Arthanat, S., Nochajski, S. M., Lenker, J. A., Bauer, S. M., & Wu, Y. W. B. (2009). Measuring usability of assistive technology from a multicontextual perspective: the case of power wheelchairs. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63(6), 751.
- Chen, W. Y., Jang, Y., Wang, J. D., Huang, W. N., Chang, C. C., Mao, H. F., & Wang, Y. H. (2011). Wheelchair-related accidents: relationship with wheelchair-using behavior in active community wheelchair users. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 92(6), 892-898.
- Edwards, K., & McCluskey, A. (2010). A survey of adult power wheelchair and scooter users. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 5(6), 411-419.
- Frank AO, Ward J, Orwell NJ, McCullagh C, Belcher M. Introduction of a new NHS electric powered indoor/outdoor chair (EPIOC) service: benefits, risks and implications for prescribers. Clinical Rehabilitation. 2000;14:665–673. [PubMed]
- Mortenson, W. B., Miller, W. C., Boily, J., Steele, B., Odell, L., Crawford, E. M., & Desharnais, G. (2005). Perceptions of power mobility use and safety within residential facilities. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72(3), 142-152.
Most people who operate any sort of motorized vehicle have aids to help them see what is going on around them. Mirrors, cameras and sensors are commonly used to help people when driving cars. So, what about people who drive wheelchairs? There are various visual aids for wheelchair users, which provide information about what is going on in blind spots. This blog will discuss the pros and cons of these solutions.
Backup Cameras for Wheelchair Users
Backup cameras are popular visual aids for wheelchair users to get information about what is behind them. Cameras designed for attachment to trailer hitches and license plates can be adapted for wheelchair users and attached to the back of a chair. These devices typically relay video information to the driver on a smartphone or tablet. This requires the wheelchair user to mount their phone/ tablet in an easily visible location.
Pros of Backup Cameras
- Cameras are useful when driving outside or in large spaces, especially when operating a wheelchair safely on roads or in busy traffic areas.
- They are good at allowing the user to track objects such as cars or pedestrians moving through their field of view.
- These systems are fairly low cost, and take advantage of technology the user already owns by using a tablet/smartphone to relay information.
- Many aftermarket backup camera products are magnetic, making installation on a wheelchair easy.
Cons of Backup Cameras
- For drivers with low vision, video is ineffective at relaying information.
- It also may be distracting to monitor a video screen when driving.
- A tablet/smartphone large enough to clearly view will block the driver’s forward facing vision, creating another blindspot for the driver.
- Navigating indoors using a camera may be difficult, due to difficulty differentiating between objects and walls on the screen.
- Adequate lighting is required to make video feedback worthwhile.
- If using a smartphone for video relay, the driver is unable to use their smartphone for other tasks while driving, such as DJing that perfect playlist!
- Mounts for these cameras aren’t designed for wheelchairs, and may be difficult to mount.
Rear-View Mirrors
Rear-view mirrors are low-tech visual aids for wheelchair users that provides the user with instantaneous feedback regarding their environment.
Pros of Rear-View Mirrors
- Mirrors are the lowest cost solution, with wheelchair specific mirrors costing under $100.
- Mirrors don’t require charging.
Cons of Rear-View Mirrors
- In order for the mirror to be effective, it must be positioned in a very specific way, which may be an inconvenient position for the driver.
- Mirrors are also bulky to catch a large enough frame of view, which will create an additional blindspot for drivers.
- Mirrors don’t provide exact location information about objects. “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear” may be okay when on the roads, but inside a house it is important to know exactly how close you are to an object/wall.
- Adequate lighting is required to make feedback useful from a mirror.
- Mirrors have a small range of vision, so drivers will still have blind spots they can’t monitor.
Sensor Systems
Sensor systems are new to the market, and provide wheelchair users with information about objects in their environment. Sensors detect objects and obstacles, and that information is fed back to the user through different modalities. For example, Braze Mobility offers blind spot sensor systems that provide up to 180 degrees of rear-view blind spot coverage, and customizable 45 degrees of coverage. This information can be relayed through vibration, visual or audio feedback.
Pros of Sensor Systems
- Customisable coverage makes it possible to monitor multiple blind spots at once. This means that people with decreased peripheral vision can easily monitor both side and rear view blind spots.
- Coverage area of sensors is much higher than mirrors and video.
- People with vision impairments are able to interpret feedback easily using either vibration or audio feedback.
- The device was designed to not block vision in any way.
- The device was designed for wheelchair use, and can be easily installed on any wheelchair.
- The device is powered via a USB power bank, and therefore can easily be charged. One charge can last all day, due to the very low power requirements of the device.
- Ultrasonic sensors do not rely on proper lighting to provide the user with feedback.
- Feedback from the device splits the rear view vision into three distinct areas. This makes navigating in tight spaces and through doorways easier.
Cons of Sensor Systems
- Feedback does not provide information about what is in your blind spot, but just that there is something there.
- The cost of an ultrasonic sensor system designed for wheelchair use is higher than the cost of a mirror, or rear view camera designed for a car.
Self-Driving Wheelchairs
Self driving cars are beginning to drive themselves into the market, and wheelchairs might not be too far behind! Currently, self driving chairs are not available commercially, however they are being used in research studies.
Pros of Self-Driving Wheelchairs
- Self driving chairs will reduce barriers to accessing power mobility devices. People with low vision, decreased cognition or other reason for being denied access to power mobility may be able to operate a self-driving chair.
- Self-driving chairs will likely be safer than regular power mobility devices, due to a lack of blind spots.
Cons of Self-Driving Wheelchairs
- These chairs will likely be extremely expensive.
- Depending on the level of control of the driver versus the chair, self driving wheelchairs may decrease the autonomy of the driver.
Do you have experience with any of these feedback methods? We’d love to hear about your experience and your opinion! Comment below to start the conversation!
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The Smart Wheelchairs in Assessment and Training (SWAT) State of the Field workshop was an initiative to gather various stakeholders in power wheelchair training and assessment and create a comprehensive review of the current state of the discipline. The participants involved a balance of both clinical and technical experts on wheelchair training and assessment and the outcomes of the workshop are published in an AGEWELL report. The 3-part Braze Mobility SWAT Blog Series will discuss some key outcomes of this workshop.
According to the SWAT report, the main challenges faced by practitioners in wheelchair training and assessment and those being assessed and trained for wheelchair use are:
- High cost of equipment and funding constraints
- Lack of available resources to train and supervise users safely
- Limitations in commercially available technology to accommodate client needs
What Solutions Have Been Proposed to Combat These Challenges?
1. Lack of Available Resources to Train and Supervise Users on Safe Use
In order to gain the maximum impact from the limited resources available, therapists can use technologies such as Smart Wheelchairs. Smart Wheelchairs have many different benefits that will help to increase the efficiency of training and assessment sessions.
The first is that these devices can monitor users at all times, not just when in the clinic. This provides therapists with a more holistic view of their clients’ driving habits, and can help them to identify problems that occur in settings outside of the clinic environment or assessment hours.
For example, smart wheelchair technology could be used to detect if clients experience more collisions after a certain time due to fatigue or side effects of medication. This data can also be used to determine skills requiring additional training sessions, and target therapy sessions accurately towards the needs of the user. This could in turn reduces the required one-on-one evaluation time.
Smart wheelchairs can also provide the user with feedback about their driving, and hazards in their environment. This allows for training to occur outside of the clinic, maintaining client safety without requiring one-on-one therapist supervision. These benefits could reduce the time constraints on therapists, as well as increase the amount of training the user is able to obtain from each session.
2. Limitations in Commercially Available Technology to Accommodate Client Needs
Translating research into clinical practice was found by the report to be critical to ensuring progress in adaptive technology. In adapting research into commercially available products, usercentered design must be used to develop the technologies through engaging end users in the design process. The SWAT report identifies that potential technological solutions to accessibility challenges mostly involve solutions that engineers already have the technological know-how to create, and therefore progress is within reach. There is currently a commercially available option to provide a wheelchair user with feedback outside of the clinic.
The Braze Sentina Plus provides users with 180 degrees of blind spot detection, with the possibility of adding up to three Echo heads for 45 degrees of customizable coverage. The Sentina can provide visual, auditory or vibration feedback to the user, alerting them of objects in their environment and helping them to navigate tight spaces independently. This product was developed using the outcomes of the SWAT report along with extensive user feedback, and can be used with almost any wheelchair. To learn more, click here!
3. High Cost of Equipment and Funding Constraints
In order for smart wheelchairs to be economically viable, there must be access to funding for those who would benefit from the device. The SWAT report found that the additional cost in development and production of a smart wheelchair is justified by the benefit provided to the user, as access to powered mobility devices for safe and independent mobility is a human right. Low-cost solutions are another possible solution, such as the Braze Hydra which is available for $1850 USD! For more information on funding challenges and solutions, stay tuned to the Braze blog, as our next series will tackle available funding in Canada!
Read More About Smart Wheelchair Technology
- Download our FREE E-Book on Smart Wheelchair Technology!
- Read Part 1: The 5 things you should know about Smart Wheelchair technology!
- Read Part 2: The Current State of Wheelchair Training and Assessment
References
- Viswanathan, P., Wang, R., Sutcliffe, A., Kenyon, L., Foley, G., Miller, W., Bell, J., Kirby, L., Simpson, R., Mihailidis, A., Adams, M., Archambault, P., Black, R., Blain, J., Bresler, M., Cotarla, S., Demiris, Y., Giesbrecht, E., Gardner, P., Gryfe, P., Hall, K., Mandel, C., McGilton, K., Michaud, F., Mitchell, I., Mortenson, B., Nilsson, L., Pineau, J., Smith, E., Zambalde, E., Zondervan, D., Routhier, F. & Carlson, T. (2018). “Smart Wheelchair in Assessment and Training (SWAT): State of the Field” AGEWELL.
The Smart Wheelchairs in Assessment and Training (SWAT) State of the Field workshop was an initiative to gather various stakeholders in power wheelchair training and assessment and create a comprehensive review of the current state of the discipline. The participants involved a balance of both clinical and technical experts on wheelchair training and assessment and the outcomes of the workshop are published in an AGEWELL report. The 3-part Braze Mobility SWAT Blog Series will discuss some key outcomes of this workshop.
As discussed in the previous blog post, power wheelchairs provide diverse benefits to their users. However, they also pose a risk to both the user and those around them if not properly paired with the user’s abilities. It is therefore important for therapists to thoroughly assess the abilities of their client, and train them on the safe use of a power wheelchair (PWC).
What Do Therapists Measure in a PWC Assessment?
Assessments will include an interview with the user to determine their mobility goals and needs. Following this, the assessment will typically include several trials of PWCs, in order to assess various PWC skills. In addition, an evaluation of physical, cognitive and perceptual functional status of the user will be performed. Additional relevant information includes the client’s support network, main method of transportation, age, personality, and details about the environment the PWC will be used.
All of this information is used to determine which PWC, if any, is the most appropriate for the client. In addition, this information can be used by clinicians to determine appropriate modifications or technologies that can help the user to succeed in operating a PWC safely.
For example, for users who have difficulty with backing up or navigating in tight spaces, the Braze Sentina is a new technology that attaches to any wheelchair and provides auditory, visual and/or vibration feedback to the user about hazards in the environment. Find out more about Braze mobility products!
What are the Challenges in PWC Assessment?
In the SWAT workshop, it was determined that there is an overall lack of well-established tools to guide therapists in training and assessment that demonstrate both scientific rigour and clinical utility. In a recent survey of power wheelchair training and assessment professionals, most reported using non-standardized mobility skills assessments.
Given the diverse and unique needs of clients, standardization of assessments may be ineffective, and unjustly limit access to PWCs. However, the push for evidence based practices encourages the integration of standardized, evidence-based PWC assessments.
What are the Assessment Tools Currently Used in PWC Assessments?
1. Power-mobility Indoor driving assessment (PIDA) and Power Mobility Community Driving Assessment (PCDA)
The Power-mobility Indoor driving assessment (PIDA) (Dawson, Kaiserman, Chan, & Gleason, 2006) and Power Mobility Community Driving Assessment (PCDA) (Letts, Dawson, & Kaiserman, 1998) are clinically useful, and provide therapists with a guideline to assess skills both within the community and indoors. These checklists draw attention to certain areas of power wheelchair use, and are intended to act as an indication of areas requiring further training, device modification, or environmental interventions.
2. The Wheelchair Skills Program
The Wheelchair Skills Program (Dalhousie University, 2007) includes the Wheelchair Skills Test (WST), a questionnaire (WST-Q) and the Wheelchair Skills Training Program (WSTP). The program can be used to both assess and train users, and have undergone several tests to ensure reliability, validity and clinical utility
3. Driving to Learn
The Driving to Learn (Nilsson, Eklund, Nyberg, & Thulesius, 2011). approach uses a training PWC and tool to understand the incremental learning process, and appropriate strategies to facilitate a user’s continued learning. This tool is designed for individuals with profound cognitive disabilities. It has demonstrated very good inter-rater reliability, and is a reliable tool for clinical use.
4. The Pediatric Powered Wheelchair Screening Test (PPWST)
The Pediatric Powered Wheelchair Screening Test (PPWST; Furumasu, Guerette, Tefft, 2004) tool is designed to help therapists assess a child’s readiness to drive a PWC. Only cognitive skills are evaluated using this tool.
6. The Obstacle Course Assessment of Wheelchair User Performance
The The Obstacle Course Assessment of Wheelchair User Performance (Routhier, Vincent, Desrosiers, Nadeau, & Guerette, 2004) tool is used to assess the more difficult wheelchair skills . Both the content and construct validity has been established, however clinical usefulness is less clear.
7. The Power Mobility Skills Test
The Power Mobility Skills Test (Rico, 2014) provides standardization and consistency in assessment of individuals for PWC use. It has been used extensively in California, where it is now mandatory in evaluation of PWC readiness. More research is needed to establish the clinical utility, reliability and validity outside of the California Children’s Services agencies.
Read More About Wheelchair Technology
- Download our FREE E-Book on Smart Wheelchair Technology!
- Read Part 1: The 5 things you should know about Smart Wheelchair technology!
- Read Part 3: Challenges and Solutions in Wheelchair Training and Assessment.
References
- Dalhousie University. Wheelchair Skills Program (WSP), Version 4.1 2007. Available from: www.wheelchairskillsprogram.ca. Last accessed 23 July 2014.
- Dawson, D., Kaiserman-Goldenstein, E., Chan, R., & Gleason, J. (2006). Power-Mobility Indoor driving assessment manual.
- Letts, L., Dawson, D., & Kaiserman-Goldenstein, E. (1998). Development of the power-mobility community driving assessment. Canadian Journal of Rehabilitation, 11, 123-129.
- Nilsson, L., Eklund, M., & Nyberg, P. (2011). Driving to Learn in a powered wheelchair: Interrater reliability of a tool for assessment of joystick-use. Australian occupational therapy journal, 58(6), 447-454.
- Rico, L. (2014, May 29). Powered Mobility Devices (PMD). Retrieved July 22, 2014, from http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/ccs/Documents/ccsnl090514.pdf
- Viswanathan, P., Wang, R., Sutcliffe, A., Kenyon, L., Foley, G., Miller, W., Bell, J., Kirby, L., Simpson, R., Mihailidis, A., Adams, M., Archambault, P., Black, R., Blain, J., Bresler, M., Cotarla, S., Demiris, Y., Giesbrecht, E., Gardner, P., Gryfe, P., Hall, K., Mandel, C., McGilton, K., Michaud, F., Mitchell, I., Mortenson, B., Nilsson, L., Pineau, J., Smith, E., Zambalde, E., Zondervan, D., Routhier, F. & Carlson, T. (2018). “Smart Wheelchair in Assessment and Training (SWAT): State of the Field” AGEWELL.
- Routhier, F., Vincent, C., Desrosiers, J., Nadeau, S., & Guerette, C. (2004). Development of an obstacle course assessment of wheelchair user performance (OCAWUP): a content validity study. Technology and Disability, 16(1), 19-31.
The Smart Wheelchairs in Assessment and Training (SWAT) State of the Field workshop was an initiative to gather various stakeholders in power wheelchair training and assessment and create a comprehensive review of the current state of the discipline. The participants involved a balance of both clinical and technical experts on wheelchair training and assessment and the outcomes of the workshop are published in an AGEWELL report. The next 3 blogs will discuss some key outcomes of this workshop.
The top 5 things you should know about smart wheelchair technology!
1. What is a “Smart Wheelchair”?
A smart wheelchair is a power wheelchair (PWC) that collects information on driver behavior and interaction with their environment. This is done through the use of sensors and/or cameras positioned to provide feedback on a driver’s ability to control the device and navigate their environment safely. The information can be relayed directly to the user to modify behavior, such as through an auditory, sensory or visual feedback system. The data can also be tracked and used to provide therapists with valuable insight on the user’s driving habits. This can be used to assess the safety of the user and those around them, as well as areas to focus on during future training sessions and ways to modify the environment.
2. Why is This Important?
Access to PWC technology can increase a clients independence, improve their ability to navigate their environment and is considered to be a human right by advocacy groups such as UsersFirst. Access to mobility devices is closely tied to an increase in confidence level, self-efficacy and self-reported desire to use technology. Mobility devices can also reduce the social stigma related to disability, by increasing independence of a person with mobility impairment. Through the use of information collected by smart wheelchairs, therapists are able to more thoroughly assess a client’s ability to safely operate a PWC, and could increase access for users who might otherwise be denied access due to safety concerns.
3. What Can Smart Wheelchairs Do for Therapists?
A smart wheelchair can supplement a clinician’s decision making. Although there is no substitute for clinician experience and judgment, smart wheelchair feedback can provide valuable insights into how a client interacts with their PWC on a daily basis. They can provide insight into a client’s potential to learn, and whether training sessions will increase their ability to operate a PWC independently. They also provide insight into specific areas to focus on during future training sessions. They can create objective measures of performance (such as number of collisions experienced) and provide ongoing monitoring of clients, even when training sessions end.
4. What are the Main Barriers Preventing Client Access to PWC Technology?
The primary concern of most therapists in prescribing a PWC is the safety of both the client, and the people the client interacts with. Exclusion from PWC use is more likely to occur in users who show symptoms of inattention, delayed reaction time, poor judgment and decreased visuospatial awareness. For clients who require extensive training to safely use PWC technology, a limitation in the amount of training available due to therapist time constraints acts as a barrier to access. In addition, the high cost of PWC equipment, along with funding constraints can limit client access. There is additionally a limitation in commercially available technology to accommodate client needs for smart wheelchair technology.
5. What Smart Wheelchair Technology is Commercially Available?
Braze Mobility develops devices that can turn any wheelchair into a smart wheelchair. The Braze Sentina and Hydra are blind spot sensors that can be easily installed on any wheelchair, and provide auditory, visual and/or vibration feedback increasing the user’s spatial awareness and ability to maneuver tight spaces. Braze CEO and co-organizer of the SWAT initiative Dr. Pooja Viswanathan developed these devices using the outcomes of the SWAT report to guide user-focused design. To learn more, click here!
Learn More About Smart Wheelchair Technology!
- Download our FREE E-Book on Smart Wheelchair Technology!
- Read Part 2 of this article: The Current State of Wheelchair Training and Assessment
- Read Part 3 of this article: Challenges and Solutions in Wheelchair Training and Assessment
Reference
Viswanathan, P., Wang, R., Sutcliffe, A., Kenyon, L., Foley, G., Miller, W., Bell, J., Kirby, L., Simpson, R., Mihailidis, A., Adams, M., Archambault, P., Black, R., Blain, J., Bresler, M., Cotarla, S., Demiris, Y., Giesbrecht, E., Gardner, P., Gryfe, P., Hall, K., Mandel, C., McGilton, K., Michaud, F., Mitchell, I., Mortenson, B., Nilsson, L., Pineau, J., Smith, E., Zambalde, E., Zondervan, D., Routhier, F. & Carlson, T. (2018). “Smart Wheelchair in Assessment and Training (SWAT): State of the Field” AGEWELL.
Read MoreBraze Mobility uses sensors to help motorized wheelchair users avoid collisions with the obstacles that surround them. Now, with its latest product, Braze hopes to one day help eliminate the obstacles themselves.
Pooja Viswanathan, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Toronto and the CEO and co-founder of Braze, says she’s hoping to use the data collected by her startup’s sensors, which can be attached to motorized wheelchairs, to create a sophisticated data analytics platform.
The crunched data could then be used by clinicians, insurance companies and even city planners when making decisions that could impact wheelchair users.
“This could collect data on where collisions are actually happening in the environment,” Viswanathan told attendees at a recent health-care pitch competition.
Braze was one of four startups to take home $7,000 in prize money at H2i’s HealthEdge Challenge. The competition is organized by three U of T accelerators – Health Innovation Hub (H2i), The Hatchery and the Department of Computer Science Innovation Lab (DCSIL) – and is designed to encourage innovation to address real-world health-care problems.
Also taking home a prize was surgical device startup Xpan. The company, co-founded by U of T biomedical engineering alumnus Zaid Atto, makes an expandable version of a surgical device called a trocar that’s used to create a tunnel into the abdomen for laparoscopic surgeries.
At present, surgeons must swap out trocars if they need to insert larger instruments, which can slow down procedures and raise the risk of complications, Atto said.
Xpan won a similar H2i pitch competition back in October and another in September organized by The Hatchery, which is affiliated with the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.
The other two winners of this week’s competition were Sunny Stroke, which connects physicians providing care to stroke patients and was represented by U of T biomedical engineering graduate student Shaurya Gupta, and Opti-fold Cosmetics, which makes a special tape to encourage double eyelids and is led by Ray Tang.
In addition to the cash, the four winning startups will receive further support from the accelerators supporting HealthEdge competition as they fine-tune their business plans.
https://www.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-startups-take-home-prizes-health-challenge-event
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The temperatures are falling, and Christmas music is being played on repeat. This can only mean one thing-the holiday season is upon us, and with it, the pressure to find the perfect gift is building. Everyone is in pursuit of the perfect gift for their family members and friends-something that is fun, useful and shows how much they care. Easier said than done! Below is a list of accessible gifts, perfect for people who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices.
Give the gift of cozy ears, and hands free mobile device control. Voice controlled bluetooth technology, built-in speaker and microphone all in a fashionable and warm hat. Various designs available on Amazon.com and the pictured hat is available at Robot Shop.
The Braze Sentina is a blind spot sensor system that can turn any wheelchair into a ‘smart’ wheelchair (cars have sensors, why can’t wheelchairs?!).
Benefits of Braze’s Blind Spot Sensors
These add-on devices are the first in the world that easily attach to any wheelchair and offer visual, audio, and vibrational feedback to wheelchair users regarding location and proximity of obstacles. They provide the freedom of improved maneuverability, increased spatial awareness, and increased safety.
These products have been available for purchase mainly by institutions, but anyone in Canada or the U.S. can now get the Braze Sentina. Contact us to find out more about this innovation solution for people who use wheelchairs!
Chairmelotte designs wheelchair couture, specifically designed to be comfortable and fashionable. Check out the Evening Collection and find the perfect outfit to work on New Year’s Eve! Available at Chair melotte. (Pictured: Dress Sophia, €248.00; Coat Roger, €565.00)
Having cold hands is never fun, but driving a wheelchair with cold hands is worse. This device protects hands from the cold, and allows the user to still have the control and visibility they need. It also protects the control panel from snow! A less bulky alternative could be tight fitting gloves. If you are feeling crafty, a similar design could be made with crochet or knitting skills. Available at Active Mobility Centre.
Homemade gifts are a great option, and truly show that you care. It also makes the gift customizable, and lets you show off your skills! This design for a water bottle holder is a quick, easy and practical gift. Available at Sew Can Do.
For those feeling less crafty, Etsy has some different designs for bottle holders, and sidebags, with a variety of different designs.
No holiday is complete without adding to one’s cozy sock collection, and for people with limited lower body mobility, cozy socks are essential to keeping feet warm. Canada’s Indigo sells many designs of reading socks, that keep feet and legs warm.
Sock Alternatives: Slippers or Leg Warmers
For people who may find it difficult to get long socks on, check out these slippers from Egli Farm, or a leg warmer designed for wheelchair users!
This speaker provides hands-free control of smart appliances. It can also control the lights, and heating in your house- all handsfree! Plus, the google assistant can book appointments, set alarms, Google things for you and play music! This is the perfect device for someone who has limited upper body mobility, giving them hands-free control of the house! Available at the Google Store.
Hands-free technology doesn’t have to be left behind when your friend/family member leaves their Google home system at home! The Tecla Shield connects with smart devices, providing hands-free control anywhere you go! Check it out at Adaptive Switch Laboratories (ASL).
As the days get shorter, a flashlight becomes more and more handy- no one can navigate in the dark! Pair this flashlight up with the Braze Sentina (gift #2) for the ultimate safe driving gift! This flashlight available on Amazon is designed to attach to mobility devices. Flashlight available on Amazon.
Don’t let a curb stand in the way of your plans! The world is slowly becoming more accessible, and apps like Accessnow can be used to find accessible hang outs. Unfortunately accessibility still has a long way to go. Bringing a ramp can help reduce the barriers faced during your adventures! Available at Wheelchair Friendly Solutions.
Looking for more Accessible Gift Ideas?
Thank you for reading about all of these gift ideas. Looking for more? Check out our birthday gift ideas here! Have any other suggestions? Please comment below! Have a very happy holiday!
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