Enabling Mobility And participatioN among those with Disabilities (dEMAND)

This study aims to answer the following research questions:

 1)  Where do people who use different types of mobility assistive devices (i.e., power wheelchairs, manual wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, crutches, and canes) go?

 2)  What do people who use different types of mobility assistive devices do?

 3)  What are the personal and neighbourhood physical and social environmental facilitators and barriers for mobility and social participation among people with mobility impairments?

 4)  How do these facilitators and barriers influence mobility and social participation for people with mobility impairments?

 5)  What do they think about their mobility and participation? /How would they like to see it improved?

This project uses three principal methods of data collection: 1) GPS (Global Positioning System) and activity monitoring, 2) Photovoice and 3) Neighbourhood built environmental assessments. Using GPS activity monitoring, the team learns where mobility assistive technology users go and what they do. With Photovoice, participants take pictures of environmental and social barriers and facilitators that they encounter. They share these images with other group members and work collaboratively to identify themes and potential strategies to address those barriers. Using environmental audits, we identify features of the built environment that could be modified to improve mobility.

Through partnerships with stakeholders (e.g., representatives from the city, disability advisory committee or advocacy group, organizations focusing on accessible environment, etc.), the data collected during these studies will lend themselves to intervention studies that can be implemented in future years of the project.

A poster was presented at the 46th Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting, Oct 2017, in Winnipeg, Manitoba:

Kleinschroth, L., Mahmood, A., Mortenson, W.B., Bigonnesse, C., Prescott, M., Martin Ginis, K.  Mobility scooter use for community access: an exploration of user's knowledge of the rules of the road and perception of environmental barriers and facilitators that impact their use and safety.  Poster session presented at: Canadian Association on Gerontology. 46th Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting; 2017, October 19-21; Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.