Search form

Working Groups

Working Groups of volunteer representatives from the international wheelchair community meet regularly to develop and implement action plans related to the Society’s objectives. ISWP appreciates the members’ time and talents.

 

Governance Document

Size: 252KB


Download Adobe Reader to View These PDFs

Advocacy

ISWP's Advocacy Working Group is tasked with increasing awareness about the lack of access to wheelchairs worldwide, increasing funding to support this issue, and encouraging policy adoption to facilitate wheelchair provision worldwide, particularly in less-resourced settings.  The group is developing materials and an awareness-raising campaign to create a clear, consistent message across the industry; to promote wheelchair inclusion in national policies and to increase recognition within the United Nations Body, the WHO World Health Assembly, and other high‐level forums.  Two subcommittees support the Working Group:  Awareness and Policy Adoption.

Evidence - based Practice

The Evidence - based Practice Working Group is identifying and assessing opportunities to improve the adoption of best practices in the field of wheelchair service provision through coordination with stakeholders on a global scale. The Working Group integrates expert opinion with scientific evidence to ensure best clinical practice for wheelchair service provision is implemented globally. Three subcommittees support the Working Group: Comparative Effectiveness Research, Country Data Collection and Minimum Uniform Data Set.  

Membership and Coordination

ISWP's Membership & Coordination Working Group is developing a sustainable membership and funding model and establishing guidelines for coordinating ISWP initiatives with other industry organizations.  The Working Group creates a balance between what members need from the organization and what the organization needs from its members. The working group is developing value propositions, as well as services and programs for prospective member groups including service providers, wheelchair users, wheelchair technicians and clinicians, and organizations such as universities, training organizations, NGOs, manufacturers and suppliers.

Standards

The ISWP Standards Working Group is developing standards and test devices for manufacturers and service providers that will improve reliability and usability of wheelchairs in less-resourced settings and aid in the selection of appropriate wheelchairs based on the user's environment and lifestyle.  The Working Group is establishing priorities related to standards and testing and a framework of testing protocols for engineering and usability metrics.  Standards Working Group subcommittees are addressing:  casters, corrosion, rolling resistance and whole chair testing.  The group also is developing wheelchair design guidelines. The Working Group includes researchers, donors, and commercial members who are experienced in wheelchair standards, work in less-resourced environments, or both.

Training

ISWP's Training Working Group is working to ensure people in need of wheelchairs are provided with properly fitted chairs through competent training, testing and delivery.  The Working Group promotes dissemination and rollout of World Health Organization (WHO) Wheelchair Service Training Packages (WSTP), including WSTP Basic, WSTP Intermediate, and WSTP Managers and Stakeholders.  The group also supports capacity building of wheelchair services and monitoring of personnel within the services to meet WHO guidelines. Working Group members include doctors, trainers, wheelchair technicians, university professors, consultants, and others who are experienced in wheelchair training and Integration provision.  Three subcommittees comprise the working group:  Competency Testing, Hybrid, Blended Learning Course and Integration.