Egger Selina Marita, Gemperli Armin, Filippo Martina, Liechti Ronald, Gantschnig Brigitte Elisabeth
ZHAW School of Health Professions, Institute of Occupational Therapy, Katharina-Sulzer-Platz 9, 8400, Winterthur, Switzerland.
Swiss Paraplegic Research, Guido A. Zäch-Strasse 4, 6207 Nottwil, Switzerland; Center of Primary and Community Care, University of Lucerne, Frohburgstrasse 3, 6002, Lucerne, Switzerland.
Disabil Health J. 2022 Oct;15(4):101365. doi: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2022.101365. Epub 2022 Jul 20.
Persons with disabilities do not yet experience equality with the rest of the population when using transportation. Paratransit services take over transportation for persons with disabilities when public transportation cannot be used or can only be used to a limited extent. The usefulness of these services remains limited due to financial and structural reasons.
This study aims to identify the experiences of persons with disabilities with paratransit in Switzerland, explores their needs and verifies facilitators and barriers to the use of paratransit services. Furthermore, perceived experiences of how barriers and facilitators of transportation influence the participation in different areas of life of these persons are examined.
In this study, we adopted a qualitative approach with four online focus group discussions and one physically present discussion group, including 31 participants overall. We collected data between July and October 2021 and analyzed the data using content analysis according to Mayring (2015).
Overall, persons with disabilities experience paratransit as important and appreciated this alternative to public transportation. Specifically, the services' need is individual for each person and depends on different facilitating factors (e.g., habits, health condition, activities, safety, accessibility, service) and barriers (e.g., costs, weather conditions).
The need for paratransit services is highly individual and impacts participation in different life areas. On one hand, the federalist system in Switzerland supports a local and cultural embedment, but on the other hand leads to difficulties concerning transportation beyond the close local environment and for longer distances.
残疾人在使用交通工具时尚未与其他人群享有平等权利。当无法使用公共交通或只能有限使用公共交通时，辅助公交服务会为残疾人提供交通服务。由于财务和结构方面的原因，这些服务的实用性仍然有限。
本研究旨在了解瑞士残疾人使用辅助公交的体验，探索他们的需求，并验证使用辅助公交服务的促进因素和障碍。此外，还考察了交通方面的障碍和促进因素如何影响这些人在不同生活领域的参与度的感知体验。
在本研究中，我们采用了定性研究方法，进行了四次在线焦点小组讨论和一次线下讨论小组，总共包括31名参与者。我们在2021年7月至10月期间收集数据，并根据迈林（2015年）的方法使用内容分析法对数据进行分析。
总体而言，残疾人认为辅助公交很重要，并对这种替代公共交通的方式表示赞赏。具体而言，每个人对服务的需求是个性化的，取决于不同的促进因素（如习惯、健康状况、活动、安全、可达性、服务）和障碍（如成本、天气状况）。
辅助公交服务的需求高度个性化，并影响在不同生活领域的参与度。一方面，瑞士的联邦制支持地方和文化融入，但另一方面，在当地近距离环境之外以及长途运输方面会导致困难。
