The Impact of Transfer Setup on the Performance of Independent Transfers: Phase I Final Report

Chapter 1: Background

In 2002, the Access Board published the Accessibility Guidelines for newly construct or altered recreation facilities (1). These facilities include amusement rides, boating facilities, golf courses, and swimming pools among others.  These guidelines establish minimum accessibility requirements to provide a general level of usability for people with disabilities. The recreation facility guidelines were developed with significant public participation including an advisory committee composed from representatives from different groups and organizations such as Paralyzed Veterans Association, Disabled American Veterans, International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, and Walt Disney Imagineering among others. The public was given an opportunity to comment on the proposed guidelines and the Board made changes based on this input. These recommendations were based on input from ride designers, persons with disabilities, along with established criteria for elements designed for transfer.  Current standards have criteria only related to seat height and clear floor space for wheelchair users (2). The Access Board is interested in gathering additional data on transfers to develop guidelines (e.g. design criteria) for the purposes of enhancing accessibility for persons with mobility impairments.  The primary goal of this project is to determine acceptable ranges for non-level transfers (e.g. vertical height differences), gaps between the transfer surface and wheelchair, and the clear space (length/width) needed to position the wheelchair in proximity to the target. Independent transfer was operationally defined as a transfer by which the individual requires no human assistance to perform.  Setup was broadly defined as environmental type factors that impact transfer performance such as height and gap differences, space available next to the target element, and obstacles near or around transfer surfaces.

The first part of this study is a literature review that sought expert opinion on the relevance and strength of the evidence concerning set up and transfer performance.  We sought to identify evidence in the literature that would provide insight into the burden that setup has to the performance of independent transfers Our goal was to evaluate the specific relevance related to transfer setup (i.e. vertical transfer distance; transferring across gap; number of transfers to go from the initial location to final surface; use of transfer assistive device).  Results from the study will be used to identify where additional research is necessary to help define optimal design characteristics for transfer surfaces that have the least negative impact for wheeled mobility devices users who lived in community.

The second part is a study that was performed on 120 wheeled mobility device users who lived in the community to collect data on wheelchair transfers in order to make recreational facilities more accessible for people with mobility impairments. The aims included to study environmental variables such as vertical heights (e.g. transferring up/down), gaps between the target and wheelchair, clear space needed to position the wheelchair, and describe how transfer ability was affected by placing an obstacle (i.e. non-removable armrest) between the mobility device and the destination surface, and by providing a grab bar in front of the destination surface.

In this report, chapter 2 describes the methodology used for the literature review and data collection on transfers.  Chapter 3 presents the results on the literature review and on the data collected on transfers.  Finally, chapter 4 describes the implications of our results on current accessibility guidelines.

Objectives:

• Research the literature for evidence on the impact of setup on independent transfers

• Collect data on different setups

• Compare results to current accessibility guidelines for amusement rides in terms of minimum clear floor areas, height, obstacle, and grab bar use.