Wheelchair service provision education for healthcare professional students, healthcare personnel and educators across low- to high-resourced settings: a scoping review.
Yohali Burrola-Mendez, Sureshkumar Kamalakannan, Paula W Rushton and 10 others
PMID 35436160WHAT IT FOUND
Wheelchair service education is rarely integrated into university curricula, with most training occurring in high-income countries.
Existing programs often lack standardization and detailed reporting, leaving a gap in evidence for how to effectively teach wheelchair skills globally.
Key findings
01Only three studies reported integrating wheelchair courses into university curricula, all of which were optional and focused on Canadian occupational therapy programs.
02The majority of evidence comes from high-income countries, with only three articles conducted in low-income countries, limiting the applicability of findings to resource-poor settings.
03No articles explicitly stated the expected skills and competencies after wheelchair service provision education, though knowledge and wheelchair skills were the most frequently targeted outcomes.
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
Language bias: Only English and French publications were included, potentially missing evidence from other regions. Geographic bias: The majority of studies were from high-income countries, with very few from low-income settings, limiting generalizability to resource-poor contexts. Study design: Most included studies were quasi-experimental or observational, providing low-level evidence regarding educational effectiveness. Reporting quality: Included articles often lacked detail on course development, integration processes, and specific learning outcomes, making it difficult to replicate or assess quality.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest. The research was supported by non-U.S. government and U.S. government (non-P.H.S.) sources.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that current university curricula provide comprehensive wheelchair service provision training. The review found that integration is rare, often optional, and highly variable in content and duration. Clinicians should not rely solely on entry-level education for competency in wheelchair prescription and fitting.