The wheelchair procurement process: perspectives of clients and prescribers.
BACKGROUND
Increasing choices in assistive technology have made the process of procuring a wheelchair more complex and challenging.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the intricacies of the procurement process from the perspectives of clients and therapists.


METHODS
Thirty-four participants were interviewed, including 13 wheelchair prescribers, 14 wheelchair users, and 7 wheelchair associates (family members and caregivers).


RESULTS
Analysis revealed five main themes. "Who decides?" described varying degrees of client involvement in the procurement process. "Expert knowledge" reflected the expert knowledge that all parties possessed. "Form versus function"captured the primary and, at times, conflicting outcomes that participants wanted to achieve. "Fitting in" depicted the environmental factors that affected wheelchair procurement. "(Re)solutions" illustrated strategies that participants felt improved the process.


CONCLUSIONS
This study reveals clients' experiences with wheelchair procurement, identifies potential issues therapists may encounter, and suggests possible remedies they might consider when prescribing wheelchairs within a client-centred framework.
Mortenson
W Ben
WB
Vancouver Coastal Health, Vancouver, BC, Canada. bmortens@interchange.ubc.ca
Miller
William C
WC
D001290:Attitude; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D003657:Decision Making; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D009788:Occupational Therapy; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*; D014910:Wheelchairs / Q000191:economics* / Q000523:psychology*