Suchergebnisse

Background: Wheelchair research includes both qualitative and quantitative approaches, primarily focuses on functionality and skill performance and is often limited to short testing periods. This is the first study to use the combination of a performance test (i.e. wheelchair propulsion test) and a multiple-day mobility assessment to evaluate wheelchair designs in rural areas of a developing country.Objectives: Test the feasibility of using wheel-mounted accelerometers to document bouts of wheeled mobility data in rural settings and use these data to compare how patients respond to different wheelchair designs.Methods: A quasi-experimental, pre- and post-test design was used to test the differences between locally manufactured wheelchairs (push rim and tricycle) and an imported intervention product (dual-lever propulsion wheelchair). A one-way repeated measures analysis of variance was used to interpret propulsion and wheeled mobility data.Results: There were no statistical differences in bouts of mobility between the locally manufactured and intervention product, which was explained by high amounts of variability within the data. With regard to the propulsion test, push rim users were significantly more efficient when using the intervention product compared with tricycle users.Conclusion: Use of wheel-mounted accelerometers as a means to test user mobility proved to be a feasible methodology in rural settings. Variability in wheeled mobility data could be decreased with longer acclimatisation periods. The data suggest that push rim users experience an easier transition to a dual-lever propulsion system.

In this study we summarize the importance, research aspects of social innovation both from the theoretical and practical points of view. We begin with the introduction of the KRAFT Programme (started in 2012), a pilot regional development policy and its relation to social innovation. It is followed by presenting the interrelatedness of social innovation and the UN Sustainable Development goals, highlighting the various challenges which should be addressed. In accordance with many years of experience in regional development, we put much emphasis on the governance of social innovations and the variety of actors which could be the initiators. In this regard, we describe how different organizations can be engaged in such practices resulting in social change (social meta-innovation). Finally, we highlight some best practices in the field of social innovation at the Institute of Advanced Studies Kőszeg (iASK).