Manual Wheelchairs - World Health Organization

106 I guIdelInes on the provIsIon of manual wheelchaIrs In less resourced settIngs
4.2.3 Trainers
Training programme development
Trainers working in wheelchair service delivery require knowledge of different impairments
and chronic conditions. They need to understand who can benefit from using a wheelchair and
which wheelchair model and features are most suitable for an individual. Also, they need a clear
understanding of how to prevent further deformities and complications, and a broad understanding
of disability in general and environmental factors. Trainers also require skills in wheelchair use,
effective communication and training, and knowledge of the rights of persons with disabilities.
Users and delivery of training
Active users may effectively teach wheelchair mobility skills and transferral, demonstrating what
an actual user can do. Users may also be able to explain to trainees what it was like when they first
received a wheelchair, and what training or instruction they found most beneficial or would have
found most beneficial had it been available.
Box 4.5. Wheelchair service delivery training in Africa
Abdullah Munish had a spinal cord injury due to a car accident
in 2000. He was in the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in
the United republic of Tanzania for nearly eight months. It was
a very frustrating time for him as he learnt that he would not
be able to walk again – it was almost like the end of the world
for him. From his therapists, he heard of a training opportunity
for him to become a wheelchair technologist. This gave him a
ray of hope. With the help of his therapists and supporters, he
joined the one-year Wheelchair Technologists Training Course
at the Tanzanian Training Centre for Orthopaedic Technologists
(TATCOT).
The course, which is accredited by the International Society
for Prosthetics and Orthotics, teaches the technical skills of
wheelchair production as well as anatomy and physiology, the
pathology of different impairments, technical drawing, workshop management and disability studies. This enabled
Abdullah to build on his production skills and learn how to assess people and prescribe them with the right wheelchair,
as well as the essential management skills needed to run a small business.
Abdullah has said of the course “I had no idea there was so much to learn about wheelchair production and distribution.
now I can produce good quality wheelchairs, but I can also ensure that a wheelchair is right for the person using it. The
more you learn, the more you realize that the provision of wheelchairs is a complex subject and we need to continuously
develop our skills and extend our knowledge. We need more knowledge in supportive seating, for example, and to
continuously improving our designs and our services.”
Abdullah finished the course in 2001 and was employed as a wheelchair technologist by the Kilimanjaro Christian
Medical Centre. His first challenge was to set up a wheelchair workshop at the hospital, which took nearly a year to
complete. Since then, he and his colleagues have been producing appropriate wheelchairs and providing services to
people living in the Kilimanjaro region. Abdullah teaches wheelchair skills and disability issues to students at TATCOT
and at a college for occupational therapists. At the Kilimanjaro Association of the Spinally Injured, he gives training to
others as a peer trainer. Abdullah has also been a guest lecturer in wheelchair design for developing countries at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States.