Power Mobility and Safety Concerns
Power mobility allows individuals who are in long-term care to take part in their routine activities and leisure pursuits. However, the devices can also cause safety issues which need to be addressed.
Instead of excluding residents who have certain diagnoses from power mobility option, which may be considered prejudicial risk management, most participants opted to adopt an approach based on teleology and let everyone trial the power mobility device.
Mobility
A power mobility device enables people with limited ability to move around their homes or communities and take part in daily activities that are otherwise impossible for them. These devices could cause danger not only to the person using them but also to others who share their space or environment. Therapists in occupational therapy must assess each client's safety needs to provide the most appropriate recommendations regarding powered mobility.
In an exploratory study conducted by OTs in three residential care facilities of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, qualitative interviews were conducted with residents to evaluate their use of power mobility. The goal was to develop a framework for client-centered power mobility prescribing. The results revealed four main themes: (1) the meaning of power mobility, (2) learning the rules of the road, (3) red flags concerning safety, and (4) solutions.
Power mobility can improve the quality of life for those who have mobility limitations. This is because it lets them participate in everyday activities at home as well as in the community. Self-care, active and recreational activities are essential to the physical and mental health of older adults. For many with chronic illnesses, power mobility offers a way to participate in these essential activities.
Most participants found it unacceptable to take away the resident's chair since it would result in a significant change in their life or course of action, and ultimately stop them from continuing to engage in the same activities they were doing prior to their illness progressed. This was particularly relevant to those in the facility 1, who had been capable of maintaining their power chairs for short periods of time, but were dependent on others to move them around the facility.
Another potential solution was reducing the speed at which some residents drove their chairs, but this led to a variety of concerns, including privacy concerns and the impact on other residents in the community. In the end, taking away the chair of a resident was thought to be the most drastic and least desirable solution to safety concerns.
Safety
Power mobility allows people with disabilities to move around more easily and take part in a wider variety of activities, and even run around. However, with increased freedom of movement comes a higher risk of accidents. For some, these incidents could cause serious injuries to themselves and others. This is why it is vital to think about the safety of your client before recommending that they utilize power mobility.
First check if your client is able to safely operate their power chair or scooter. Depending on the nature of their condition and their the condition of their current health, this might require a physical examination by a doctor or occupational therapist, or a discussion with a mobility specialist to determine if a particular device is appropriate for them. In some cases your client will require a vehicle lift to be able to load and unload the mobility device at their workplace, home, or community.
Knowing the rules of road safety is a further aspect of safety. This involves sharing space with other pedestrians, wheelchair users, and drivers of cars, trucks or buses. This was a theme that was mentioned by most participants in the study.
For some it meant learning to use their wheelchairs on sidewalks instead of driving through crowded areas or over curbs (unless specifically designed to do so). Others drove more cautiously and paid attention to pedestrians in a crowd.
The final and least popular option of removing the wheelchair of a person was seen as a double whammy: losing independence in mobility and preventing the person from participating in activities with the community or at facilities. This was the view of most participants who were able to remove their chairs and included Diane and Harriet.
Other suggestions made by participants included educating other residents staff, family members and other residents about the safety of power mobility. This could include teaching driving basics (such as the correct side to walk on in a hallway) and encouraging residents to practice driving while outside, and helping them recognize how their behavior affects the mobility of others.
Follow-Up
The ability of a child and their willingness to be a part of the world can be profoundly affected by a power mobility device. However, very there isn't much research on the experience of children learning to use this device. This study uses the post-previous method to analyze the effects of 6 months of using one of the four early mobility devices on a group of school-aged children of children who suffer from severe cerebral Palsy (CP).
We conducted interviews in qualitative format with 15 parents, as well as occupational and physical therapists for children. Thematic analysis identified three main themes. The first theme, 'Power for mobility', described the ways that using an electric device impacted more than just locomotor abilities. Learning to drive a mobility device can be a transformative, emotionally charged experience for those who participated.
electric wheel scooter , 'There's no recipe book' showed that the process of learning to make use of an equipment for mobility was a process that took place in a way that was cyclical over time. Therapists were charged with determining what was appropriate for the individual child's needs and abilities. Throughout the training and post-training phases, therapists were required to have patience with children and parents. A number of parents and therapists emphasized a need to help families celebrate their successes and solve challenges associated with the process of training.
Finally, the third theme, 'Shared space The study explored how the use of devices that power us can affect the lives of other people and their interactions. The majority of participants in this study believed that people should be considerate when using a device that is powered by electricity. This is particularly true when driving in public spaces. Participants also mentioned that they had seen situations where property of someone else's was damaged due to the use of a motorized device, or a person has been injured by a motorist who didn't yield the right of way.
Overall, the findings of this study suggest that short-term power mobility and socialization training appears feasible for preschoolers with CP in certain classroom settings. power mobility scooter should continue to investigate the effectiveness of training and outcomes of this type of intervention for children with CP. This could lead to the development of more standardized training protocols specifically for this group of children.