Josephine Durkin was concerned that many disabled children were missing out on essential aspects of their development by being deprived of essential mobility equipment from their local wheelchair service.
With an award from The Health Foundation, Josephine set out to change attitudes and improve service provision. Children without a disability were videoed during free-play sessions using equipment such as trucks and toy cars. A powered wheelchair was then introduced as a play item. From those observations Josephine was able to identify the specific skills necessary for children to become powered users.
"We found that children need time to explore the wheelchair and familiarise themselves with what can seem a strange and unfamiliar object," explains Josephine. "Play is also a crucial factor. By making it fun, children learn so much more."
Josephine is developing a child-led clinical tool for those involved with the assessment and provision of powered mobility for children. The next stage of the project moves onto collecting data with disabled children.
"The award gave me the time to focus on research and also to think about new ways of working," says Josephine. "By becoming more child-centred in our approach, we have been able to turn around many aspects of our service." In recognition of their exemplary work, the occupational therapy team at Chailey Heritage Clinical Services have been awarded South Downs Health Team of the Year award.
30 October 2003