Read Part 1 of ‘Are looks really that important?’ here.

How we think about wheelchairs varies from person to person.

When I was researching information about the ‘look’ of a wheelchair earlier this year, there wasn’t really the information out there that I needed. When I wrote ‘Part 1’ of this blog, I was motivated to explore this further. This research is an opportunity to find out from people who use wheelchairs, their family members, and their caregivers about what actually is important to them.

So, I want to find out from you everything about your relationship with your wheelchair. I want to see if there are any differences in how you see your wheelchair if you are;- younger/older, female or male, what you do in the day and how your wheelchair makes that possible, also how you think others see you?

Also, I want to find out about the make and model of your wheelchair, the differences between the person using the wheelchair, and the person pushing, folding, and storing it.

As a clinician, I prescribe and recommend wheelchairs and their component parts. It would be incredibly invaluable to hear from you about your wants and needs.

I am extremely excited to have colleagues who share these questions and wheelchair users who have encourage me to ask these questions – together they have helped me develop this questionnaire over the past few months to explore your thoughts and feelings about your wheelchairs. This research will contribute to the evidence-base for people who use wheelchairs, through formal publication and hopefully reveal the most important aspects of the wheelchair from the people who use them most.

Participate in the questionnaire, ‘The perceptions of wheelchair users, their families and caregivers’ here.

This questionnaire is live and will remain live until mid-December 2020. The questionnaire will allow every person to give me information on up to three wheelchairs for the same person. It takes roughly 15-25 minutes to complete.

All your replies are completely confidential, and I would like to hear from the person who is the primary wheelchair user, their families, and their caregivers. The questionnaire covers a range of things related to you, your thoughts, and feelings, as well as the technical aspects and identifying what using a wheelchair gives you, both positive and negative.

This research is supported by www.spexseating.com and open to all anyone who uses or cares for someone who uses a wheelchair, regardless of the make and model. I am particularly grateful to have the support of Spex Ltd in facilitating and finalising the questionnaire for launch. Preliminary results will be shared on www.spexseating.com.

I would love to hear what you have to say please share this freely across social media platforms!

Your support, and participation, is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Bridget