Development of “My Wheelchair Guide” app: a qualitative study

Abstract

Background: 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.

Objective: This paper describes the development of the “My Wheelchair Guide” app and the usability evaluation of one of the app sections “Use a Wheelchair”.

Method: 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.

Results: 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.

Conclusion: 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 rehabilitation

• Smartphone 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.

Keywords:

• mHealth
• mobile app
• wheelchair
• usability
• education

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all participants for sharing their views and the United Spinal Association for their support in recruiting participants and recommending lead users to participate in the development. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIDILRR.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research project was supported by the National Institute of Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) under Grant #H133A130025.