Men’s and women’s perspectives on using a powered mobility device: Benefits and societal challenges

Abstract

Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Pettersson, C., Iwarsson, S., Brandt, Å., Norin, L., & Månsson Lexell, E. (2014). Men's and women's perspectives on using a powered mobility device: Benefits and societal challenges. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 21(6), 438-446. DOI: 10.3109/11038128.2014.905634 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.• You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal 1 MEN'S AND WOMEN'S PERSPECTIVES OF USING A POWERED MOBILITY DEVICE -BENEFITS AND SOCIETAL CHALLENGES AbstractObjective: To describe how men and women experience their use of powered wheelchair (PW) and powered scooters (PS) in everyday occupations, in the home and society at large.Methods: A qualitative research approach with focus group methodology was used. Four focus groups were created, with men and women as well as PW and PS users in different groups. Applying a descriptive approach, data were analyzed according to the principles described by Krueger.Findings: Three categories emerged and revealed that even though use of PW and PS increased independence and enabled everyday occupations, participants struggled to be independent powered mobility device (PMD) users. They experienced many accessibility problems in dwellings and in society, described similarly by users of PW and PS. Men and women experienced their use of (PMD differently, especially in relation to the service delivery process.Conclusions: The study contributes with new knowledge on accessibility for PW and PS users and related service delivery processes, stating that gender differences regarding provision and training must be taken into account. Occupational therapists can contribute to an enhanced understanding of the PMD users' challenges in person-environment-occupation transactions in the home and society, and thereby promote occupational justice for PMD users.

Autonomy and Housing Accessibility Among Powered Mobility Device Users

“…The independent variables were selected on the basis of the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and Engagement (i.e., person-environment-occupation; Townsend & Polatajko, 2007) and previous research on PMD users' experience of managing everyday life (Pettersson et al, 2014). The personal factors we used as independent variables were age, gender, type of injury (tetraplegia or paraplegia), years living with SCI, living situation (cohabiting or living alone), and number of functional limitations.…”

“…Additionally, little is known about which environmental barriers generate the most housing accessibility problems and how autonomy indoors and outdoors is related to different types of environmental barriers. Although autonomy (Lund, Nordlund, Bernspång, & Lexell, 2007;Lund, Nordlund, Nygård, Lexell, & Bernspång, 2005) and personal factors and environmental components (Pettersson, Iwarsson, Brandt, Norin, & Månsson Lexell, 2014;Pettersson et al, 2013) have been studied among people with SCI, to the best of our knowledge existing knowledge about autonomy as related to personal factors and environmental components among PMD users is insufficient.…”

The power of power wheelchairs: Mobility choices of community-dwelling, older adults

“…For example, the size and programming of the devices may make them difficult to maneuver, which can precipitate accidents that damage property or cause personal injury (5,8). Furthermore, some homes and public buildings may be inaccessible to wheelchair users, and power wheelchairs may necessitate expensive home and vehicle modifications (7). Funding policies also dramatically affect the equipment that users can obtain.…”

“…One qualitative study focused exclusively on the benefits of power wheelchairs in enabling social participation and role performance (5), whereas other research has described power wheelchairs as a mixed blessing in terms of accessibility issues and stigma that users may experience (4,6,7). For example, the size and programming of the devices may make them difficult to maneuver, which can precipitate accidents that damage property or cause personal injury (5,8).…”

Comprehensive Needs Assessment Study and Deployment of QFD Targeted at New Wheelchair Design

“…The design of wheelchair for users of a developed country might be inadequate in comparison to a developing country such as India because the users' needs are completely different. A number of studies have been performed to understand the technological needs and desires of users of wheelchair [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”