Background of the Lab:
Measurement of Participation and Environment for People with Mobility Limitations
This laboratory began with a study to build a battery of assessment tools to capture the person and environment interactions, which was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1997 through 2003.
CURRENT LAB PROJECTS:
Assistive Technology Reutilization Program for Independent Living:
Washington University Program in Occupational Therapy is assisting Paraquad in the expansion of clinical services and the development of reliable and valid outcome measurements. The clinical services and outcome measures will be used to select and justify the appropriate reutilized assistive technology devices for people with disabilities. Washington University staff is implementing, modifying and training Paraquad staff on clinical assessment methods, device training techniques and outcome measures. The staff is also helping implement these assessments and measures to four other independent living centers in Missouri and Illinois.
Assistive Technology in the Community:
“Assistive Technology in the Community” is a five-year project funded by the National Institute on Disability Research and Rehabilitation (NIDRR). The goal of the project is to promote assistive technology (AT) as a method of increasing the participation of people with disabilities in major life activities.
Influence of Wheelchairs on Participation:
The assessment of the influence of AT on the lives of people with SCI is important for several reasons. The purpose of this study is to test the ability of surveys (PARTS and FABS) to detect changes in participation by individuals with spinal cord injuries who get new wheelchairs and/or seating systems. This study will compare the influence of current and newly acquired wheelchairs on the participation of people with SCI in major life activities in three settings-home, community and work or school.
Influence of Training of Personal Assistants and Participants on Health and Community Participation:
The aim of this study is to provide instruction on health care self management to attendants and to those who hire attendants for the purpose of reducing secondary conditions, improving their health care service use, and increasing their quality of community participation.
Development of Community Based Outcome Measures for Rehabilitation:
In a project funded by the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research several measures developed by our research team will be tested on 1,200 individuals with mobility impairments to establish group normative values for participation and for environmental barriers and facilitators.
Exercise, Health and Wellness for People with Mobility Impairments:
The EMC works directly with people with mobility impairments (PWMI) who use mobility devices to develop health management handbooks and exercise programs. The purpose of the 12 week exercise program is to examine the influence of regular exercise on endurance, strength, secondary conditions and community participation.
Subjective and Objective measures of Community Receptivity:
The currently used mobility impaired specific Community Health Environment Checklist (CHEC) and Community Participation and Perceived Receptivity Survey (CPPRS) are being expanded to include factors specific to participation at 17 community sites by people who are blind or deaf.
Community Engagement to Improve Receptivity to People with Disabilities: As a part of the effort to improve the understanding of the rights covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a protocol for engaging community stakeholders interested in changing their environments (structures, behaviors and rules) is being developed and will be tested in communities in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. Communities that plan to make significant changes in receptivity will be assessed prior to intervention and after intervention. The interventions will be local and the assessments will be by members of the EMC research team. A web based index of community best practices for improving receptivity will be built and maintained. These best practices will become a menu for other communities to review when considering making changes at buildings, transportation systems, housing and other aspects of community life.
Successful Employment of People with Disabilities:
While many studies have been made of the factors preventing successful employment of people with disabilities, the unemployment rate remains well below the rate for those without disabilities. Even enactment of the ADA Title I (employment section) has not produced a noticeable increase in employment for those with disabilities. The purpose of this project is to find people with disabilities who are successfully employed ands find out those factors that have made employment possible and have fostered success. Video clips will. Be made of people with disabilities at their work sites which will show the assistive devices, building modifications and work site adaptations that they use. They will e interviews and asked to fill out surveys for the purpose of examining common factors predicting success at work and the match between worker skills and task demands of the work. The goal of the project is to improve employment rate for those with disabilities buy providing g exemplars for both employers and potential employees.
General Description of Student Activities:
Students who work on Dr. Gray’s research projects have participated in client interviews, focus groups, survey administration by phone, in-person assessments, assisting participants with individualized exercise sessions, technology development and assessment, data entry, data analysis, literature reviews, written journal articles and made oral presentations of their work. The students work with other members of the research group learning research skills. Most of the students work on a part of the general research project before selecting a topic that they develop for their master’s or doctoral project.
PROJECTS COMPLETED BY STUDENTS:
Occupational Therapy Doctorate students 2005
Kim Walker - Development of a Community Mobility Skills Course for Persons Who Use Mobility Devices
Master of Science in Occupational Therapy students 2005
Hannah Friesen - Facilitators and Barriers in Community Sites for Individuals with Mobility Impairments
Melissa Dappen - The Use of Personal Assistance and Environmental Support by Personals with a Spinal Cord Injury
Stephanie Hayes - Differences in Participation by Diagnostic or Mobility Device Group
Occupational Therapy Doctorate students 2004
Paula Frey - The effect of exercise on wheelchair skills and participation of individuals who use manual wheelchairs
Kelly Schwann - The effects of exercise on participation for individuals who use power wheelchairs
Katie Allen - Scooter Uses and Well Being
Master of Science in Occupational Therapy students 2004
Kristin J. Tulipano - The impact of mobility devices on participation of persons with a spinal cord injury
Jennifer Weber - A Comparison: Employed and Unemployed People with Disabilities
Melissa Lyles - The influence of paid personal assistance services on participation in major life activities by people with mobility impairments
Occupational Therapy Doctorate students 2003
Kimberly A. Hannon - Measuring evaluative and temporal influences on participation in a mobility-limited population
Elizabeth Hawkins-Chernof - Predicting work status of persons with mobility limitations
Darci Redmond - The Effects of Transportation on Evaluative Quality of Participation in Major Life Activities of Individuals with Mobility Limitations
Master of Science in Occupational Therapy Students 2003
Megan Buki - Preliminary Study for a Survey of Spouses of Members of the Paralyzed Veterans of American with a Spinal Cord Injury and Multiple Sclerosis: ‘Til Death Do Us Part
Laurie M. DeLaney - Can Mobility Device or Diagnostic Group Predict Evaluative Quality of Participation?
Occupational Therapy Doctorate student 2002
Jessica Davinroy - Quality of Participation in Life Activities by Mobility Devices Users
Master of Science in Occupational Therapy students 2002
Jeffrey Cuthbert – Participation in Intimacy by Persons with Mobility Limitations
Jennifer Herron - Cerebral Palsy, Mobility, and Social Participation
Andrea Joerding – The Influence of Mobility Devices on Limitations to Participation in the Environment
Emily Spliter – Public v. Private Transportation Users: A Comparison of Independent Community Participation
Master of Science in Occupational Therapy students 2001
Jessica Davinroy - Secondary Conditions Following SCI: Individual, Physician, and Occupational Therapy Based Interventions
Ian Rice – Manual Wheelchair Fit and Function
Master of Science in Occupational Therapy students 2000
Craig P. Davis - Assessment of Factors Important for Tetraplegic Driving
Jennifer Herring -The Effects of Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy on Participation in Children
with Cerebral Palsy
Kimberly A. Masker - Participation: A Comparison of Persons with Mobility Limitations in Rural and Urban Settings
Jennifer Topolewski - Accessing Your World: Home Modifications
Heather Varga - Participation in Major Life Activities by Individuals with Post-Polio
Syndrome
Master of Science Occupational Therapy students 1999
Kristen Conway - Parental Report of Participation by Mobility Impaired Limited CP Children
Tracy Distel -Environmental Factors and Participation in Major Life activities: Multiple Sclerosis.
Nancy Straley – Stroke with Mobility Impairment: Participation and the Environment Demonstrating Test-Retest Reliability of the MPS and the EBFL.
Karin Schnobrich – A Pilot study of C5/C6 Spinal Cord Injury Driving Capacities.
Padra Smith – Hotel accessibility: ADA Reality Check.
Michelle Tscheschlok – SCI: Computer Based Educational Materials for Community Mobility.
Master of Science Occupational Therapy students 1998
Billie Boone - Influence of Disability Issues Sensitivity Training on St. Louis Zoo Employees: Change in Knowledge of Employees.
Ben Broyles - Participation and the Influence of Environmental Factors: Spinal Cord Injury.
Janell Harvey - Participation and the Influence of Environmental Factors: Polio Survivors
Katherine Holler - The Social Security System Benefits System: Suggestions to Enable Beneficiary Participation in Obtaining Gainful Employment.
Kerri Morgan - Influence of Disability Issues Sensitivity Training on St. Louis Zoo Employees: Change in Behavior towards Zoo Visitors with Disabilities.
Holly Morgenstern - Participation and the Influence of Environmental Factors: CerebralPalsy
Traci Rosenfelt - Participation and the Influence of Environmental Factors: Establishing a Typology of Environmental Factors
Colleen Sagullo - Participation and the Influence of Environmental Factors: Establishing a Typology of Environmental Factors
Deb Vanderveen - Participation and the Influence of Environmental Factors: Multiple Sclerosis
Heidi Wessel - Exercise and Strengthening of Upper Limb Used for Driving by Individuals with Spinal Cord Injuries.
Kathy Woods - Assessment of Functional Capacity for Driving in Persons with C4 to C7 Spinal Cord Injuries.
Andrea Wunibald - Spouses of paralyzed Veterans of America with Multiple Sclerosis: Problem Resolution and Marital Satisfaction.
Master of Science Occupational Therapy students 1997
Shawn Brasel and Heather Anderson - a Pilot Study of a Revision of the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps: Participation Dimension - Communication/Leisure Activities of Persons Who are Deaf.
Shannon Fischer - A Pilot Study of a Revision of the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH): Participation Dimension - Leisure and Recreation of Children with Cerebral Palsy.
Mike Harter International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps: Participation Dimension - Leisure and Recreation of Persons with Spinal Cord Injuries.
Kim Lefeld -A Pilot Study of the Revision of the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH): Participation in Transportation and Driving Activities of Persons with Spinal Cord Injury.
Natalie Maus - A Pilot Study of a Revision of the International Classification of Leisure/Recreational Activities: Leisure and Recreation Participation of Persons with Traumatic Brain Injury.
Kathy Meyer A Pilot Study of a Revision of the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps: Participation Dimension - Parenting With Spinal Cord Injury.
Jennifer Sambrook - Disability and Culture: Health and Treatment of People with Disabilities in Native American Cultures.
Holly Starkey - Ownership, Use and Need for Assistive Technology as Perceived by Spouses of Persons with Spinal Cord Injury or Multiple Sclerosis.
Publications:
Gray DB, Hollingsworth HH, Stark SL, Morgan KA. A subjective measure of environmental facilitators and barriers to participation for people with mobility limitations, Disability and Rehabilitation (Manuscript accepted for publication in 2007)
Stark SL, Hollingsworth HH, Morgan KA, Gray DB. The development and validation of the community health environment checklist, Disability and Rehabilitation, 2006, 1-15.
Bricout J, Gray D. Community receptivity: The ecology of disabled persons’ participation in the physical, political and social environments. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 2006 8(1), 1-21.
Gray DB, Hollingsworth HH, Stark SL, Morgan KA. Participation Survey/Mobility Psychometric Properties of a Measure of Participation for People with Mobility Impairments and Limitations. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2006, 87 (2) 189-197.
Stark SL, Edwards D, Hollingsworth HH, Gray DB. Validation of the Reintegration to Normal Living Index in a population of community-dwelling people with mobility limitations, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2005, 86(2) 344-345.
Chaves ES, Boninger ML, Cooper R, Fitzgerald SG, Gray DB, Cooper RA. Assessing the Influence of Wheelchair Technology on Perception of Participation in Spinal Cord Injury, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2004, (85)1854-1858.
Gray DB. Delivering AT in the Community through an Interdisciplinary Approach. In Craddock, G.M., McCormack, L.P., Reilly, R.B., & Knops, H.T. (11th), Proceedings of the 7th European Conference for the Advancement of Assistive Technology, Assistive Technology- Shaping the Future, 2003, 61-65. IOS Press: Burke, VA.
Gray DB, Gould M, Bickenbach JE. Environmental Barriers and Disability Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 2003, 20(1) 29-37.
Gray DB, Hollingsworth HH, Edwards D, Stark SL, Neufeld P, Margherita A, Hirsch K, Bickenbach JE, Morgan KA, Gould M, Curl D, Welch P, Weight C, Shaw E, & French C. (2002). Mobility impaired individuals with secondary conditions: Health, participation, and environments: Centers for Disease Control.
Gray DB, Morgan, KA, Hollingsworth, HH: Independent living and assistive technology: Work context. Rehabilitation Education. 2001; 15,(4) pp. 353-364.
Gray DB, Welch P, Hollingsworth, HH: Comparing perspectives of people with disabilities and professionals on the ICIDH-2 Beta-1. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 2000, 11 No.3:171-178.
Gray DB, Hendershot, GE. The ICIDH-2: Developments for a new era of outcomes research. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2000, 81(Suppl 2):S10-S14.
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