Evaluation of Highly Adjustable Throwing Chair for People with Disabilities

ABSTRACT

Participation in exercise and sport, such as throwing events, can have a positive effect on both the physical and physiological health of people with disabilities. While the biomechanics of seated throwing athletics has been studied, there is paucity of literature that focuses on chairs for this sport. This work describes the design and evaluation of a highly adjustable chair for throwing athletics. A prototype was designed, fabricated, and evaluated by 19 participants at the 2010 National Veterans Wheelchair games. Participants conveyed their thoughts on the chair in an interview, which followed a throwing session. The participants indicated a positive response to the device citing improved range of motion as its best feature. Future work should focus on quantitative data collection and improvement in the designs portability.

Keywords:

• assistive devices
• evaluation
• people with disabilities
• track and field

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was supported in part by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, Department of Veterans Affairs (B6789C). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the U.S. Government.