Purpose and Objectives: The overall purpose of this research project is to describe the variation in power mobility over a two-year period among various cohorts of wheelchair users. Nested within this project is a study of the psychometric properties of a toolkit of measures that will advance our knowledge and understanding of essential outcomes for power mobility users.
Specific objectives include:
Objective 1: To describe the variability or natural history of power wheelchair use over a two-year period in cohorts of older adults who use power wheelchairs. Because this work is exploratory we do not pose specific hypotheses for this objective. However we do anticipate variation in the duration of wheelchair use (distance traveled and displacements) do to seasonal variations; reduced caregiver burden for the caregivers of individuals receiving their first power wheelchair, and improved satisfaction with the activities performed while using the wheelchair among both cohorts who are receiving new power wheelchairs.
Objective 2: To assess the reliability (test-retest, intra-rater and inter-rater) of the power wheelchair outcome toolkit.
Objective 3: To assess the validity of the power wheelchair outcome toolkit.
Please refer to our Power Mobility Outcome Toolkit page to read more about the results of this project.
Published
Mortenson WB, Miller W, Miller Polgar J. Measurement Properties of the Late Life Disability Index among individuals who use Power Wheelchairs as their primary means of mobility. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2014 Oct;95(10):1918-24. Doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2014.05.020.
Rushton PW, Kirby RL, Routhier F, Smith C. Measurement properties of the Wheelchair Skills Test Questionnaire for powered wheelchair users. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, Early Online: 1-7. 2014 Nov 20; 1748-3115. Doi: 10.3109/17483107.2014.984778.
Mortenson WB. Demers L, Rushton PW, Auger C, Routhier F. Exploratory validation of a multidimensional power wheelchair outcomes toolkit. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2015 Nov 22;96(12):2184-93. Doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2015.08.430.
Mortenson B, Demers L, Rushton P, Auger C, Routhier F, Miller W. Psychometric Properties of a Power Mobility Caregiver Assistive Technology Outcome Measure. Accepted to PlosOne 2017.
Rushton PW, Labbe D, Demers L, Miller WC, Mortenson WB, Kirby RL. Understanding the burden experienced by caregivers of older adults who use a power wheelchair: a cross-sectional study.Accepted by Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine on Mar 7 2017
Mortenson WB, Demers L, Rushton PW, Auger C, Routhier F, Miller WC. Psychometric properties of the caregiver assistive technology outcome measure for caregivers of power mobility users. PLoS One. Jun 6 2017; 12(6):e0178554. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178554. PMID: 28586377. PMCID: PMC5460810.
Book Chapter
Demers L, Mortenson B, & Fuhrer M. (2012). Measuring the impact of assitive technology on family caregivers. In: M.Scherer, S.Federici (Eds), Assistive Technology – A Handbook for Professionals in Disability, Rehabilitation and Health Profession, Chapter 5. NY : Taylor & Francis. pp. 83 — 100.
Rushton, P. W., Kirby, R. L., Routhier, F., & Smith, C. (2014). Measurement properties of the wheelchair skills test – questionnaire for powered wheelchair users. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 1-7. doi:10.3109/17483107.2014.984778.
Local Conferences
Smith C, Rushton PW, Kirby RL. The natural history and measurement of power wheelchair use: A progress report. Proceedings Rehabilitation Research Day, Halifax, NS, October 25, 2011.
Rushton PW, Demers L, Routhier F, CanWheel Research Team. Mobility among new and experienced older adult power wheelchair users. Carrefour des connaissances 2002-2012: Célébrez la qualité et la convergence des idées. Montreal, PQ, March 27, 2012.
Rushton PW, Kirby RL, Miller WC. Manual Wheelchair Skills Capacity: Objective Testing versus Subjective Questionnaire.Proceedings of the Dalhousie University Department of Medicine Research Day; 2012 May 17; Halifax, NS.
Routhier F, Rushton PW, Mortenson WB, Demers L, Miller WC, CanWheel Research Team. Portrait de la mobilité des ainés qui utilisent un fauteuil roulant motorisé: résultats preliminaries. Journee Ressource de l’Institut de réadaptation en déficience physique de Québec. Quebec City, PQ, June 1, 2012.
Routhier F, Miller WC, Demers L, Rushton PW, Auger C, CanWheel Research Team, and al. CanWheel: Improving wheeled mobility of older adults. Proceedings of Journeé Ressource de l’Institut de réadaptation en déficience physique de Québec; 2012 June 7; Quebec City, PQ.
Provincial Conferences
Rushton, P.W., Demers, L. The natural history and measurement of power wheelchair use, in Proceedings of the REPAR/FRSQ Journée Scientifique, Quebec City, Québec, May 20, 2011, p. 31.
Boyd A, Chew C, Best KL, Rushton PW, Miller WC, and the CanWheel Research Team. Influence of Training on the Power Wheelchair-Handling Skills of Caregivers. Poster presented at the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists National Conference, Victoria, BC, May 29 – June 1, 2013.
National Conferences
Luts, A, Soles, C, Mortenson, WB, Miller, WC. (2011). Longitudinal experiences of power mobility use in older adults. Poster session at the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy National Conference, June, Saskatoon, SK.
Chamberlain A, Zonneveld S, Mortenson WB, Miller WC, Rushton PW, & Demers L. Older adults’ experiences of power mobility: A longitudinal mixed-methods study. Poster presentation at the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) National Conference, Quebec, PQ, June 6 – 9, 2012.
Auger C, Jutai JW, Miller WC, CanWheel Research Team. Measurement properties of the ATOP/M for middle-aged and older adults who use power wheelchairs. Presented at the 41st Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting of the Canadian Association on Gerontology (CAG) Conference, Vancouver, BC, October 18 – 20, 2012.
Demers L, Rushton PW, Mortenson WB, Chan E, Miller WC, CanWheel Research Team. Introducing a tool for measuring the impact of power mobility use by older adults on their family caregivers. Presented at the CAG Conference, Vancouver, BC, October 18 – 20, 2012.
Kirby RL, Rushton PW, Smith C, CanWheel Research Team. Reliability and validity of the Wheelchair Skills Test Questionnaire Version 4.1 for Powered Wheelchair Users. Presented at the CAG Conference, Vancouver, BC, October 18 – 20, 2012.
Rushton PW, Demers L, Miller WC, CanWheel Research Team. Measurement properties of the Wheelchair Use Confidence Scale for Power Wheelchair Users (WheelCon-P). Presented at the CAG Conference, Vancouver, BC, October 18 – 20, 2012.
Ruston PW, Mortenson B, Demers L, Auger C, Busilachi E, and CanWheel Team. Mixed effects of older adults’ use of power wheelchairs on their informal caregivers. Centre de readaptation Lucie-Bruneau (CRLB) Crossroads of Knowledge 2013, Montreal, QC, April 9, 2013. (Poster)
Routhier F, Demers L, Kirby RL, Auger C, Rushton P, & CanWheel Research Team. Efficacite, securite et impact d’un programme d’entrainment des habilites en fauteuil roulant motorise: un essai controle randomise. Presented at the Colloque ReadaptATion-aides techniques conference, Laval, Quebec, May 8-9, 2014.
Auger C. Rushton P, Miller WC, Demers L, Routhier F & CanWheel Research Team. Profil de mobilite des aines qui utilisent un fauteuil roulant motorise dans la communaute. Presented at the Colloque ReadaptATion-aides techniques conference, Laval, Quebec, May 8-9 2014.
Mortenson WB, Demers L, Rushton PW, Auger C, Routhier F, Miller WC. Exploratory validation of a multidimensional power mobility outcomes toolkit. Accepted as a podium presentation at the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy National Conference; 2015 May; Winnipeg, MB.
Rushton PW, Kirby RL, Demers L, Auger C. The CanWheel Power Wheelchair Outcomes Toolkit: Overview and Application.Proceedings of the International Seating Symposium (ISS); 2016 March 1-4; Vancouver, BC.
Labbé D, Rushton PW, Demers L, Kirby RL, Mortenson WB, Miller WC. Understanding the burden experienced by caregivers of older adults who use power mobility. Poster presentation at the 45th Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting of the Canadian Association on Gerontology, Montreal, QC, October 2016.
International Conferences
Mortenson, WB, Demers, L, Landry, A-P, Luts, A, Soles, C. (2011). Experiences of power mobility use in older adults over time: Preliminary findings. European Seating Symposium. November, Dublin, Ireland.
Rushton PW, Demers L, Mortenson, WB. The impact of older adults’ use of power wheelchairs on their informal caregivers. Poster presentation at the International Federation on Aging 11th Global Conference on Aging: Ageing Connects. Prague, Czech Republic, May 28 – June 1, 2012
Rushton PW, Kirby RL, CanWheel Research Team. Wheelchair Skills Test Version 4.1 for power wheelchairs: Comparison of total percentage scores for the objective and questionnaire versions.Poster presentation at the Annual RESNA Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, June 30 – July 2, 2012.
Rushton PW, Kirby RL, CanWheel Research Team. Reliability of the Wheelchair Skills Test Questionnaire, Version 4.1 for Powered Wheelchair Users. Poster presentation at the Annual RESNA Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, June 30-July 2, 2012.
Rushton PW, Auger C, Mortenson WB, Demers L, Miller WC. Occupational engagement among power wheelchair users. Podium presentation at the CAOT National Conference, Quebec, PQ, June 6 – 9, 2012.
Rushton PW, Kirby RL, CanWheel Research Team. Reliability of the Wheelchair Skills Test Questionnaire, version 4.1 for Powered Wheelchair Users. Poster presentation at the Annual RESNA Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, June 30 – July 2, 2012.
Rushton PW, Demers L. Reliability and validity of the Wheelchair Use Confidence Scale (WheelCon-P). Podium presentation at the CAOT National Conference, Quebec, PQ, June 6 – 9, 2012. Presented at the CAG Conference, Vancouver, BC, October 18 – 20, 2012.
Rushton PW, Demers L, Miller MC, CanWheel Research Team. Changes that occur among new and experienced older adult power wheelchair users over six months.* Symposia presented at the CAG Conference, Vancouver, BC, October 18 – 20, 2012.
Rushton PW, Demers, L, Miller WC, CanWheel Research Team. The Natural History and Measurement of Power Mobility Outcomes Among New and Experienced Older Adult Power Wheelchair Users: A One-Year Longitudinal Study. Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe, Vilamoura, Portugal, September 19 – 22, 2013.
Kirby RL, Smith C, Ruston PW, Auger C, Demers L. Overview of a Power Wheelchair Outcomes Tool Kit. Workshop at the Annual RESNA Conference, Seattle, WA, June 20 – 24, 2013.
Auger C, Jutal J, Miller WC. Assistive Technology Outcome Profile for Mobility: Introduction, Administration, Scoring, and Score Interpretation. Proceedings of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America; 2013 June; Seattle, Washington.
Demers L, Rushton PW, Miller WC, CanWheel Research Team, Mortenson WB, Jutai JW, et al. Improving mobility of older adults and mitigating caregiver burden through assistive technology.Invited scientific conference at the Research Initiative for Activity Studies and Occupational Therapy, Department of Public Heath, Synddansk Universitet (University of Southern Denmark); 2015 Feb 3; Odense, Denmark.
Miller WC, Rushton PW, Kirby RL, Demers L, Auger C. The CanWheel power wheelchair outcomes toolkit: overview and application. Proceedings of the International Seating Symposium; 2016 March 2-4; Vancouver, BC.
Miller WC, Mortenson B, Rushton P, Viswanathan P, Routhier F, Kirby RL. CanWheel: Improving Power Wheeled Mobility for Older Canadians. Instructional Session presented at the 32ndInternational Seating Symposium. Vancouver, B.C., 2016 March 1-4.
Symposia
(*abstracts published)
CAOT 2012 (June)*
Mortenson WB, Rushton PW, Demers L, Miller WC. “There’s lots of compromises”: Experiences of Canadian power mobility users over time.* Podium presentation at the CAOT National Conference, Quebec, PQ, June 6 – 9, 2012.
Rushton PW, Auger C, Mortenson WB, Demers L, Miller WC. Occupational engagement among power wheelchair users. Podium presentation at the CAOT National Conference; 2012 June 6 – 9; Quebec, PQ.
Rushton PW, Demers L. Reliability and validity of the Wheelchair Use Confidence Scale (WheelCon-P). Podium presentation at the CAOT National Conference; 2012 June 6 – 9; Quebec, PQ.
CAG 2012 (October)*
Mortenson WB, Demers L, Rushton PW, Miller WC. Understanding and Improving Power Mobility Use Among Older Canadians.Symposia presented at: the CAG Conference; 2012 October 18 – 20; Vancouver, BC.s
Rushton PW, Demers L, Miller WC, CanWheel Research Team. Changes that occur among new and experienced older adult power wheelchair users over six months. Symposia presented at: the CAG Conference; 2012 October 18 – 20; Vancouver, BC.
RESNA 2013 (June)
Kirby RL, Smith C, Rushton PW, Auger C, Demers L. Overview of a Power Wheelchair Outcomes Tool Kit. Workshop at the Annual Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) Conference; 2013 June 20 – 24; Seattle, WA.
RESNA 2014 (June)
Kirby L, Smith C, Demers L, Auger C, Rushton P, Miller WC. Application of a Power Wheelchair Outcomes Tool Kit. Workshop at the Annual Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) Conference; 2014 June 11-15; Indianapolis, Indiana.