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Training for the HandbikeBattle: an explorative analysis of training load and handcycling physical capacity in recreationally active wheelchair users

KOUWIJZER, Ingrid
VALENT, Linda J M
BENNEKOM, Coen A M van
HANDBIKEBATTLE group
POST, Marcel W M
WOUDE, Lucas H V Van Der
GROOT, Sonja de
November 2020

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Purpose: (1) to analyze training characteristics of recreationally active wheelchair users during handcycle training, and (2) to examine the associations between training load and change in physical capacity.

 

Methods: Former rehabilitation patients (N = 60) with health conditions such as spinal cord injury or amputation were included. Participants trained for five months. A handcycling/arm crank graded exercise test was performed before and after the training period. Outcomes: peak power output per kg (POpeak/kg) and peak oxygen uptake per kg (VO2peak/kg). Training load was defined as Training Impulse (TRIMP), which is rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) multiplied by duration of the session, in arbitrary units (AU). Training intensity distribution (TID) was also determined (time in zone 1, RPE ≤4; zone 2, RPE 5–6; zone 3, RPE ≥7).

 

Results: Multilevel regression analyses showed that TRIMPsRPE was not significantly associated with change in physical capacity. Time in zone 2 (RPE 5–6) was significantly associated with ΔVO2peak, %ΔVO2peak, ΔVO2peak/kg and %ΔVO2peak/kg.

 

Conclusion: Training at RPE 5–6 was the only determinant that was significantly associated with improvement in physical capacity. Additional controlled studies are necessary to demonstrate causality and gather more information about its usefulness, and optimal handcycle training regimes for recreationally active wheelchair users.

Required to be creative. Everyday ways for dealing with inaccessibility

WÄSTERFORS, David
2020

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Today’s society promises that people with disabilities can access anything, but in practice there are numerous obstacles, and the ways in which people deal with them can be easily missed or taken for granted by policy makers. This article draws on a project in which researchers ‘go along’ people with disabilities in Sweden who demonstrate and recount accessibility troubles in urban and digital settings. They display a set of mundane methods for managing inaccessibility: (a) using others, (b) making deals and establishing routines, (c) mimicking or piggybacking conventions, (d) debunking others’ accounts and performing local politics. The employment of these shared but tailored methods shows the difficulties to be accepted that people with disabilities still face, as well as the wide-ranging tension that exists between the grand rhetoric of inclusion and modest results. The tension implies that people with disabilities are required to be creative.

  • Declarations and policies often say that people with disabilities should have access to anything, but in practice this is not the case.
  • This study investigates what people with disabilities actually do when they have trouble accessing various places or resources. The results show their common and practical ways, and these ways are often taken for granted, overlapping, and combined.
  • People with disabilities ask others to support them when they face troubles to access places or resources, they make deals with important actors and they develop routines. They also observe, imitate and follow others’ actions, to pick out precisely those ways that suit their needs.
  • When people with disabilities find their ways in today’s society they also act with words. They argue against other people’s excuses or justifications for not providing access.
  • The study has found a lot of frustration among people with disabilities who get blocked, excluded or delayed. This gives them motives to engage in politics.

Key factors for the bicycle use of visually impaired people: a Delphi study

JELIJS, Bart
HEUTINK, Joost
DE WAARD, Dick
BROOKHUIS, Karel A
MELIS-DANKERS, Bart J M
June 2018

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Purpose: This study aims to identify the most important factors that influence the independent bicycle use of visually impaired people in the Netherlands.

 

Materials and methods: Both visually impaired people and professionals participated in a two-round online Delphi study (n = 42). In Round 1 the participants identified the factors which they ranked by relevance in Round 2.

 

Results: The participants prioritised environmental factors related to the traffic situation, the characteristics of the infrastructure, and weather and light conditions (Kendall’s W = 0.66). They indicated that the most influencing personal factors are related to personality, traffic experience, and personal background (W = 0.58). Glaucoma was ranked as the most relevant ophthalmic condition (W = 0.74), while glare was regarded as the most important factor with respect to the visual functions (W = 0.78).

 

Conclusions: The factors provided by this study can be used to optimise the independent cycling mobility of visually impaired people. More research is needed to investigate, both, how and to what extent the mentioned factors influence the cycling behaviour.

Commuting and communication: An investigation of taxi drivers’ experiences, attitudes and beliefs about passengers with communication disorders

GREEN, Sianne
MOPHOSHO, Munyane
KHOZA-SHANGASE, Katijah
2015

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Background: One of the most popular means of public transport within South Africa is mini-bus taxis.

 

Objectives: As South Africa is made up of diverse cultures, religions and beliefs, the aim of this study was to explore Johannesburg based taxi drivers’ experiences of beliefs about, and attitudes towards passengers who have a communication disability.

 

Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 mini-bus taxi drivers.

 

Results: Interviews revealed that almost all the taxi drivers had encountered passengers with a communication disability, and had an awareness of passengers with a hearing disability as opposed to a speech disability. Furthermore mini-bus taxi drivers generally held a positive view of their passengers with a communication disability.

 

Conclusion: Study findings contribute to existing literature within the fields of speech pathology and audiology, advocacy groups and policy makers, particularly research studies on participation experiences of persons with communication disabilities related to transportation access. The results of the study should also provide a foundation for disability policy development initiatives with the aim of increasing levels of public awareness.

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