Understanding the Lived Experience of Five Individuals with Mobility Aids

The aim of our research is to understand the lived experience of people with mobility aids: How do people use their mobility aids and what is their lived experience with them? What problems do mobility aid users have outside the clinic? Our goal is to further study the needs of mobility aid users, mainly wheelchair, walker and prosthesis users, and furthermore, develop a technology platform and an application that supports more independent life for mobility aid users. In our study we interviewed five individuals about their experiences of using mobility aids. The aim was to recognize the main stages of the lived experience with mobility aids in order to understand how technology could help mobility aid users outside the clinic. The stages found in the lived experience with mobility aids are 1) Expectations 2) Getting the mobility aid 3) Using and living with the aid and 4) Change/Abandonment of the aid. In each of these stages we found important issues concerning the lived experience with mobility aids such as the importance of training to use mobility aids, the meaning of peer support, finding information online, what makes a mobility aid good, what kind of issues other people's perceptions may cause and how the built environment poses challenges for people with mobility aids.