Enhancing Participation In the Community by Improving Wheelchair Skills: Phase 2 (EPIC WheelS)

November 28, 2023 updated by: University of Manitoba

Enhancing Participation In the Community by Improving Wheelchair Skills (EPIC WheelS): Phase 2

The purpose of this project is to conduct a pilot study of the EPIC WheelS wheelchair skills home training program for older adults in preparation for a third phase feasibility study.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Many older adults rely on a manual wheelchair for community mobility but are not provided with skills for independent and effective use. Suboptimal or disuse of the wheelchair results in substantial social costs such as reduced engagement in meaningful activity, social isolation, and higher caregiver burden. This represents a poor use of financial resources, including the cost of wheelchair acquisition and demands for attendant care. Access to skills training is constrained by the cost and limited availability of skilled therapists, the demands of patient and clinician travel, and lack of programs designed specifically for the needs of older adults. Enhancing Participation In the Community by improving Wheelchair Skills (EPIC WheelS) is an individualized home-training program that optimizes learning for older adults while limiting the demands on expert clinician trainers. It is delivered using a portable computer tablet that allows interactive learning, customized updating, and communication with an expert trainer. A monitored, home program that is effective and efficient for older adults has potential application for other target groups as well, particularly those with limited access to rehabilitation services in rural and remote locations.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

2

Phase

  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Manitoba
      • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3E 0T6
        • University of Manitoba

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

50 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • at least 50 years old
  • live in the community within metropolitan Winnipeg
  • self-propel a MWC (Manual Wheelchair) at least 1 hour per day
  • use their MWC for mobility outside of the home
  • have used a MWC for less than 2 years

Exclusion Criteria:

  • cannot communicate and complete study questionnaires in English
  • anticipate a health condition that contraindicates wheelchair training

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: EPIC Wheels Training Intervention
EPIC Wheels skills training program
Other: EPIC WheelS
EPIC WheelS is a user-centred program for wheelchair skills training that combines two structured 1-hour sessions with an expert trainer and four weeks of self-directed practice and training in the natural (home) environment.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change From Baseline in Wheelchair Skills Test (WST) 4.1 Capacity Score
Time Frame: Baseline and follow-up (1 month)
The WST is a structured assessment with 32 discrete mobility skills required to perform social roles in the community, each scored dichotomously as pass/fail. The WST produces a total Skill Capacity score (0-100%) reflecting the number of skills safely passed.
Baseline and follow-up (1 month)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Manitoba

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ed M Giesbrecht, PhD (Cand.), University of Manitoba
  • Principal Investigator: William C Miller, PhD, University of British Columbia
  • Principal Investigator: Janice Eng, PhD, University of British Columbia

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

August 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2013

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 13, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 16, 2012

First Posted (Estimated)

July 19, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 30, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 28, 2023

Last Verified

January 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • H2012:069

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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