A clinical guide to:

Enabling Activities

The strain of manual wheelchair propulsion can pose

limitations to daily activities

Clinical Recommendations

If wheelchair propulsion was less straining, there is the potential to keep users in their manual wheelchairs for longer, before they have to transition to a power wheelchair.

Power Assist Devices

Power Assist Devices can reduce strain and enable activities which might not otherwise be possible for a wheelchair user.

Certain activities only possible with PAD and not without
Best et al. 2006; Sawatzky et al. 2019

User Benefits

Higher force and precision activities can be easier to carry out with certain PAD devices.

1. Enables higher force activities

PAD can make it easier to carry out higher force activities such as going up inclines:

Activities which require higher force might be easier and faster to perform with a PAD compared to without
Fitgerald et al. 2003; Levy et al. 2004; Algood et al. 2004; Algood et al. 2005; Lighthall-Haubert et al. 2009; Ding et al. 2009; Khalili et al. 2021

2. Improved performance on precision activities

Performance of activities with more precision, advanced wheelchair skills, carrying things on lap, and hand use are all dependent on type of PAD
Best et al. 2006; Khalili et al. 2021; Flockhart et al. 2021

Mototronik

Front Mounted Power Assist Device

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SmartDrive MX2+

Rear Mounted Power Assist Device