Enabling disabled children in low-income countries around the world to have more functional wheelchairs.

It doesn’t do much good to give a disabled child a wheelchair if it doesn’t work well for them. In order to provide effective wheelchairs to disabled children in low income countries, it’s essential to find out which chairs work best in that setting. Enter, LETU’s Wheels team — LeTourneau Biology and Kinesiology students doing research on wheelchair function for children with disabilities in low income settings. Dr. Joy Wee, a physiatrist who teaches at Queen’s University, is collaborating with the LeTourneau team on this study.

This past school year, the team began work to compare the function of two wheelchairs: the Regency pediatric wheelchair made by Joni and Friends International Disability Center and distributed to disabled children around the world; and a 12” pediatric wheelchair made and distributed in Kenya by the Association of the Physically Disabled of Kenya (APDK). Neither wheelchair had previously been field tested. Click here to see our preliminary results.

During the school year, we tested the wheelchairs with able bodied kids at Christian Heritage School. In May, the team traveled to Kenya to work with Bethany Kids Relief and Rehabilitation International to collect data on how well the wheelchairs work for disabled children in a rougher setting. Joni and Friends and APDK are excited to receive feedback that will enhance their ability to serve children with disabilities.

Beginning this fall, the Wheels team will begin a new study comparing a larger APDK wheelchair to Hope Haven’s KidChair. We are raising funds for Hope Haven 14” KidChairs. We believe that these chairs, designed and used in low-income countries, will serve the Joytown children very well. Hope Haven is eager for results from our long term field study. We’re excited about working with this great organization.

The study protocol has been approved by LeTourneau University, Queens University and Bethany Kids, and all appropriate approvals have been obtained including subject consent forms and media consent forms. Letters of approval have been obtained from the Kenyan Ministry of Health.