Development of the Standardized Navigation Of Winter Mobility & Accessibility Network (SNOWMAN) course.
Jacquie Ripat, Ed Giesbrecht, Jaimie Borisoff and 2 others
PMID 38783992WHAT IT FOUND
A winter wheelchair obstacle course was built and standardized, featuring nine conditions like deep snow, ice ruts, and slushy ramps.
It was designed with wheelchair users and clinicians to provide a safe, realistic setting for practicing skills and testing equipment.
Key findings
01The course includes nine standardized winter conditions, such as shallow and deep loose snow, hard-packed snow, irregular pot-holed snow, iced side slopes, curb cuts with ice ridges, snow-covered ramps, slick icy surfaces, and slushy surfaces.
02The design was informed by go-along interviews with four wheelchair users and co-design sessions with wheelchair users, caregivers, and professionals, who identified barriers like traction loss, tipping risks, and increased energy expenditure.
03A protocol was developed to standardize course setup, including measuring ambient temperature, humidity, snow depth, hardness, density, and coefficient of friction, to ensure consistency across sessions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
This is a development and design paper, not a clinical trial; it reports no outcomes on whether using the course improves mobility or safety. The course is a prototype with reduced scope due to cost and space constraints. Ambient weather conditions (temperature and humidity) cannot be fully controlled, which may affect the consistency of ice and snow properties. The study was conducted in Winnipeg, Manitoba, so the specific snow and ice conditions may not reflect those in other climates.
Declared interests
The research was supported by the Manitoba Spinal Cord Injury Research Committee.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that using the SNOWMAN course has been proven to improve wheelchair mobility or reduce accidents. This paper describes the creation and standardization of the course, but it does not report results from clinical trials or user evaluations of the course's effectiveness.