Wheelchairs News and Research

RSS

Defining how exercise affects cardiovascular health in people using wheelchairs

Delphia Brown (left) exercises at the Stephen A. Orthwein Center, a wheelchair-accessible gym in St. Louis operated by Paraquad, an organization that helps people with disabilities achieve independence.

2 Apr 2024

UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry opens special-care dental clinic in South Texas

The UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry has opened a special-care dental clinic, the first of its kind in an academic setting in South Texas that will serve people of all ages with intellectual, developmental, cognitive or physical disabilities.

9 Feb 2024

America’s health system isn’t ready for the surge of seniors with disabilities

The number of older adults with disabilities — difficulty with walking, seeing, hearing, memory, cognition, or performing daily tasks such as bathing or using the bathroom — will soar in the decades ahead, as baby boomers enter their 70s, 80s, and 90s.

17 Jan 2024

UNF professor patents revolutionary ride-on mobility device for kids with disabilities

Dr. Juan Aceros, University of North Florida engineering associate professor, has been granted two new U.S. patents that have the potential to help thousands of children with disabilities attain a higher degree of freedom and comfort over traditional mobility devices, such as wheelchairs.

21 Dec 2023

People with disabilities hope autonomous vehicles deliver independence

Myrna Peterson predicts self-driving vehicles will be a ticket out of isolation and loneliness for people like her, who live outside big cities and have disabilities that prevent them from driving.

12 Dec 2023

New insights on optimizing housing for individuals with spinal cord injury

Housing that fails to meet the needs of people with disabilities may have far-reaching consequences. Living situations that impede independence and community integration, for example, can adversely affect health and wellbeing over the long term.

1 Dec 2023

Dementia risk factors have greater impact on minority ethnic groups

Factors that increase the risk of dementia have a greater impact on risk for people in minority ethnic groups, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.

13 Oct 2023

New recommendations to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections in hospitals

Avoiding the unnecessary use of indwelling catheters and promptly removing catheters that are no longer needed are the first steps in preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infections in acute care hospitals, according to new recommendations developed by five medical societies and published today in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

25 Aug 2023

New online course helps personal care assistants better understand spinal cord injury

"Understanding Spinal Cord Injury: A Course for Personal Care Assistants" a new interactive online course designed to enhance the training of personal care assistants (PCAs) for individuals with spinal cord injury, was presented today at the Paralyzed Veterans of America Healthcare (PVA) Summit + Expo at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld Hotel in Orlando, FL, by Jeanne Zanca, MPT, PhD, FACRM, assistant director of the Center for Spinal Cord Injury Research at Kessler Foundation, and chair of the Foundation's Institutional Review Board.

16 Aug 2023

CMS officially recognizes street as legitimate place to deliver healthcare

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) officially recognized that medical care can be delivered on the street, making it possible for providers like USC's Street Medicine team to be reimbursed for services provided to people who are currently unhoused.

20 Jul 2023

California promises better care for thousands of inmates as they leave prison

California has agreed to improve health care for newly released prison inmates who are disabled, including through a series of measures that advocates say will help almost everyone trying to make the transition from incarceration.

7 Jul 2023

First genetic marker for MS severity discovered

Scientists identify the first genetic marker for MS severity, opening the door to preventing long-term disability.

28 Jun 2023

Study identifies genetic variant that increases disease severity in multiple sclerosis

A study of more than 22,000 people with multiple sclerosis (MS) has for the first time identified a genetic variant associated with faster progression of the disease, an accumulation of disability that can rob patients of their mobility and independence over time.

28 Jun 2023

New approach improves diagnosis of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy

It's not easy to distinguish between the dozens of subtypes of limb girdle muscular dystrophy -; a rare, genetic muscle disease characterized by weakness in the hips and shoulders that causes difficulty walking and lifting the arms.

15 Jun 2023

Massage therapists ease the pain of hospice patients — but aren’t easy to find

Ilyse Streim views massage for people in hospice care as “whispering to the body through touch.”

8 Jun 2023

A covid test Medicare scam may be a trial run for further fraud

Medicare coverage for at-home covid-19 tests ended last week, but the scams spawned by the temporary pandemic benefit could have lingering consequences for seniors.

18 May 2023

Disability rights groups sue to overturn California’s physician-assisted death law

Disability rights advocates sued Tuesday to overturn California’s physician-assisted death law, arguing that recent changes make it too easy for people with terminal diseases whose deaths aren't imminent to kill themselves with drugs prescribed by a doctor.

25 Apr 2023

$Older wheelchair users have reduced risk of fractures$