Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Autonomy
FIAT S scores
6
Caregiver relief
5.5
5
Contentment
4.5
Doing activities
4
Effort
3.5
3
Family/social
interaction
2.5
Safety
2
1
2
Ti me
3
Supervision
FIgUre 5.3
Family impact of assistive technology scores over time.
growing concerns about his lack of independence, Charlie and his parents decide they
would like to trial power mobility for community mobility.
Steps 4 and 5.
After a 2-week trial of an appropriately fitted power wheelchair, the parents
are somewhat ambivalent about the impact of the device. They are storing the power chair in
the garage, and Charlie is able to access it independently, but with difficulty given the stairs
he needs to use. They like how the chair gives Charlie more autonomy, but they are more
worried about his safety because he has had several minor accidents in the chair and they
feel they need to supervise him when driving the chair. Before they used to drive Charlie to
school, but because they do not have a lift for their car, they have been accompanying him
to school in the power wheelchair, but this takes additional time from their day because it
takes over 15 min and the are not sure how they will deal with inclement weather. Charlie
can get into the school and into his classroom, but not the washroom. He has hit the walls
and doorframes several times with the footrests of his chair. The school staff is worried
about the potential for property damage, injury to other students, and issues of what could
happen with the wheelchair when Charlie enters the bathroom and leaves it in the hallway.
Steps 4 and 5 repeated.
Difficulties identified in step 5 at two weeks suggest additional
training is required, so steps 4 and 5 are repeated. With two additional weeks of train-
ing and reprogramming of the chair with special modes to facilitate indoor and outdoor
mobility, Charlie has become much safer driving the wheelchair and the family has pur-
chased a wheelchair lift so that they can take the chair to school using the car. Charlie
has been driving around his home independently and taking part in more activities as a
result. Charlie is driving better at school, and teachers have educated other students about
the need to leave Charlie's chair alone when it is in the hallway. These changes increase
the parent's perceptions of Charlie's autonomy, decrease their safety concerns, reduce their
effort, and facilitate caregiver relief as noted below.
Revisiting Step 1 in the future.
Given the progressive nature of Charlie's diagnosis, over
time other changes will be required to facilitate his ongoing mobility. This will likely
include a lift in the home or moving to a level-entry home. The school will need to modify
