Liu Hsin-Yi Tanya, Chia Rui-Min, Setiawan I Made Agus, Crytzer Theresa Marie, Ding Dan
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Technology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Department of Health Information Management, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol. 2019 Nov;14(8):839-848. doi: 10.1080/17483107.2018.1499140. Epub 2018 Nov 19.
The smartphone app "My Wheelchair Guide" is designed to provide essential information about wheelchair use and service delivery for new wheelchair users. It aims to empower wheelchair users in taking ownership in acquiring appropriate wheelchairs, and guiding them to use their wheelchairs in a safe and effective manner. This paper describes the development of the "My Wheelchair Guide" app and the usability evaluation of one of the app sections "Use a Wheelchair". Ten manual wheelchair users and four seating/mobility professionals completed a survey on the ease of use and perceived usefulness of the app, and a semi-structured interview. Wheelchair users used checklists in the app to self-assess their wheelchairs' fit and set-up, and their wheelchair skills. Two investigators independently conducted content analysis of the interview transcripts and identified salient themes. All participants perceived the app to be easy to use. Both wheelchair users and wheelchair seating professionals recognized that the "Use a Wheelchair" section would be very beneficial for new wheelchair users. Self-assessment checklists facilitated participants to review their wheelchair set-up and skills. Participants also provided several suggestions and recommendations to revise and refine the app section. The app section was perceived to be a useful and easy-to-use educational tool by most of the study participants. Participants' feedback will be used to guide the app revision for a better user experience. Further studies could be conducted to assess the app effectiveness on improving wheelchair users' knowledge and facilitating self-advocacy for appropriate wheelchairs.Implications for rehabilitationSmartphone apps designed to support patient education and self-management regarding wheelchair use are perceived beneficial by both wheelchair users and clinical professionals.Smartphone apps support multimedia information presentation and user interaction, and can potentially create an effective learning environment for wheelchair users and their families to learn about their everyday devices.Users of educational apps prefer reduced text-based content and care about app aesthetics.
智能手机应用程序“我的轮椅指南”旨在为新的轮椅使用者提供有关轮椅使用和服务提供的基本信息。它旨在使轮椅使用者能够自主获取合适的轮椅，并指导他们安全有效地使用轮椅。本文描述了“我的轮椅指南”应用程序的开发以及该应用程序其中一个部分“使用轮椅”的可用性评估。十名手动轮椅使用者和四名座椅/移动性专业人员完成了一项关于该应用程序易用性和感知有用性的调查，以及一次半结构化访谈。轮椅使用者使用该应用程序中的清单对他们轮椅的适配性、设置以及他们的轮椅技能进行自我评估。两名研究人员独立对访谈记录进行了内容分析，并确定了突出主题。所有参与者都认为该应用程序易于使用。轮椅使用者和轮椅座椅专业人员都认识到“使用轮椅”部分对新的轮椅使用者非常有益。自我评估清单有助于参与者检查他们的轮椅设置和技能。参与者还提供了一些建议，以修订和完善该应用程序部分。大多数研究参与者认为该应用程序部分是一个有用且易于使用的教育工具。参与者的反馈将用于指导应用程序的修订，以获得更好的用户体验。可以进行进一步的研究，以评估该应用程序在提高轮椅使用者知识以及促进其自主争取合适轮椅方面的有效性。
对康复的启示
旨在支持患者关于轮椅使用的教育和自我管理的智能手机应用程序，被轮椅使用者和临床专业人员都认为是有益的。
智能手机应用程序支持多媒体信息呈现和用户交互，并有可能为轮椅使用者及其家人创造一个有效的学习环境，以了解他们的日常设备。
教育应用程序的用户更喜欢减少基于文本的内容，并关注应用程序的美观性。
