NCT05339932

Grand Valley State University (GVSU) Skills on Wheels

GVSU Skills on Wheels: A Pediatric Manual Wheelchair Skills Training Program

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 4 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Grand Valley State University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 5 Years – 17 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Manual wheelchairs (MWCs) are widely used by children with physical disabilities, yet many of these children are unable to use their wheelchair independently. Instead, they depend on others to push them. This dependency results in limited opportunities to decide what they want to do and where they want to go, leading to learned helplessness, social isolation, decreased participation, and restricted involvement in physical activities. Furthermore, unsafe MWC use increases the risk of injury, as highlighted by the 44,300 children treated each year in emergency departments for MWC-related injuries. While independent MWC mobility can positively influence quality of life, MWC skills training must also be provided to promote safe, independent MWC use. The effectiveness of MWC training programs for adults is well established, yet the current standard-of-care does not include MWC skills training for children and research regarding the efficacy of pediatric MWC skills training programs is limited. Skills on Wheels seeks to address these gaps and provide pilot data for a future large-scale, multi-site research project involving a randomized controlled trial. Aim 1 is to explore the influence of Skills on Wheels on children's MWC skills and confidence in their MWC use. Aim 2 is to investigate the influence of Skills on Wheels on children's psychosocial skills, social participation, and adaptive behavior.

Detailed description

Manual wheelchairs (MWCs) are widely used by children with physical disabilities, yet many of these children are unable to use their wheelchair independently. Instead, they depend on others to push them. This dependency results in limited opportunities to decide what they want to do and where they want to go, leading to learned helplessness, social isolation, decreased participation, and restricted involvement in physical activities. Furthermore, unsafe MWC use increases the risk of injury, as highlighted by the 44,300 children treated each year in emergency departments for MWC-related injuries. While independent MWC mobility can positively influence quality of life, MWC skills training must also be provided to promote safe, independent MWC use. The effectiveness of MWC training programs for adults is well established, yet the current standard-of-care does not include MWC skills training for children and research regarding the efficacy of pediatric MWC skills training programs is limited. Skills on Wheels seeks to address these gaps and provide pilot data for a future large-scale, multi-site research project involving a randomized controlled trial. The final outcomes and significance of this project are as follows: Aim 1 is to explore the influence of Skills on Wheels on children's MWC skills and confidence in their MWC use and Aim 2 is to investigate the influence of Skills on Wheels on children's psychosocial skills, social participation, and adaptive behavior.

Conditions

• Spina Bifida
• Cerebral Palsy
• Genetic Disease
• Spinal Cord Injuries
• Gross Motor Development Delay
• Motor Skills Disorders

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Manual Wheelchair Skills Training	The intervention involves manual wheelchair skills training.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-05-05
• Primary completion: 2026-11-30
• Completion: 2027-12-31
• First posted: 2022-04-21
• Last updated: 2025-09-15

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States