Purpose: The Wheelchair Skills Training Program (WSTP) is underutilized in pediatrics for training manual wheelchair skills because the voluminous manual lacks pediatric specificity and no materials adapted for pediatric manual wheelchair users (PMWUs) are available. A set of resources (storybook, posters, training workbook) based on the WSTP has previously been developed for training basic indoor wheelchair skills with five to 15-year-old PMWUs. Occupational therapists (OTs) and PMWUs expressed a need for additional resources addressing higher-level skills. Two new sets of resources teaching indoor and community wheelchair skills were developed.
Objective: Describe OTs' and PMWUs' satisfaction and perceptions regarding usability, relevance and feasibility in pediatrics with the new resources.
Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted. A focus group and interviews were respectively conducted with a convenience sample of OTs and a criterion sample of PMWUs to document perceptions regarding satisfaction, usability, relevance and feasibility. A deductive approach to data analyses was used following the Framework Method.
Results: Six OTs expressed satisfaction regarding both sets of resources feeling more confident using the WSTP (relevance) and perceiving potential time efficiencies when planning training interventions (feasibility). They provided suggestions to improve the usability of the second set. Six PMWUs participated in the interviews, two of which provided feedback on both sets. They were satisfied with the resources recommending them to novice and temporary PMWUs aged from three to 11 years.
Conclusion: Participants' suggested the resources may contribute to reducing the gap between the evidence supporting the WSTP and its utilization in pediatrics.
Keywords: Adolescents; children; knowledge mobilization; occupational therapy; pediatric rehabilitation; qualitative studies; training; wheelchair.
Two sets of knowledge transfer resources based on the Wheelchair Skills Training Program (WSTP) are pediatric-friendly materials that could be used in rehabilitation settings to train wheelchair skills among novice and temporary manual wheelchair users.Both sets of knowledge transfer resources may help bridge the gap between the evidence supporting the WSTP and its utilization in pediatrics by responding to clinicians’ needs for playful, easy-to-use and condensed materials to use in their interventions.The perspectives of occupational therapists and pediatric manual wheelchair users are important to improve the wheelchair skills training resources so that they align with both knowledge users’ needs and preferences.