Presenters will report results gathered from using a measurement system designed to examine the influence of environmental factors on participation in life activities by individuals with mobility limitations. The measurements system is composed of two new survey instruments: Participation Survey (PARTS) which establishes a baseline of participation in those activities deemed most important by people with disabilities and the Facilitators And Barriers Survey (FABS) which establishes environmental factors which either hinder or facilitate participation. In addition, a core set of items (CDC-Core) is used to assess individual impairments and socioeconomic factors. The measurement system collects data that has several different applications: depicts participation profiles of specific populations, depicts profiles of environmental barriers and facilitators related to home, community and work settings, evaluates program/intervention effectiveness, provides information on the areas which may benefit from an intervention, services or assistive technology and provides results for advocating community and/or national service delivery, and/or alter policy. Comparisons of participation scores for activity duration, importance, choice, satisfaction, personal assistance use and device use will be presented for sample populations of spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, stroke, polio survivors and cerebral palsy. The measurement system has been used to assess changes related to five different interventions. The effects of these interventions on participation and perceive environmental barriers and facilitators will be discussed. Several different projects are currently using this measurement system including the State of Missouri and three Model Spinal Cord Injury Centers. Results from the interventions and projects will be presented.
Learning Objectives: 1. to understand the benefits of a measurement system which assess individual participation levels and environmental factors 2. to recognize the value of qualitative methodologies for the validation of disability classification and assessment 3. to become familiar with the range of potential public health uses of assessment instruments that identify and measure the impact of the physical, social and built environments on participation in major life activities for people with disabilities
Keywords: Environment, Disability
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.