Compare methods

	Wheelchair Skills Training Program	Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale
Field	Disability Studies	Disability Studies
Family	Process / pipeline	Latent structure
Year of origin	2004	2002
Originator	R. Lee Kirby and colleagues (Dalhousie University)	Jeffrey Jutai & Hy Day
Type	Structured skills-training intervention protocol	Assistive-device psychosocial-impact measurement scale
Seminal source	MacPhee, A. H., Kirby, R. L., Coolen, A. L., Smith, C., MacLeod, D. A., & Dupuis, D. J. (2004). Wheelchair skills training program: a randomized clinical trial of wheelchair users undergoing initial rehabilitation. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 85(1), 41-50.	Jutai, J., & Day, H. (2002). Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale (PIADS). Technology and Disability, 14(3), 107-111.
Aliases	WSTP, Wheelchair Skills Training Program, Wheelchair Skills Program training protocol	PIADS, Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale, Assistive Device Psychosocial Impact Measure
Related	3	3
Summary	The Wheelchair Skills Training Program (WSTP) is a structured, evidence-based intervention that teaches wheelchair users the individual skills needed for safe, independent mobility, from basic maneuvers to advanced ones such as curb negotiation and wheelies. Developed by R. Lee Kirby and colleagues at Dalhousie University as the training companion to the Wheelchair Skills Test, the WSTP applies motor-learning principles — goal setting, structured practice, feedback, and progression — and was shown in randomized controlled trials (MacPhee et al. 2004; Best et al. 2005) to produce clinically significant, safe gains in wheelchair-skill capacity. It pairs assessment and training in a single closed loop: test, train the deficits, retest.	The Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale (PIADS) measures how an assistive device affects a user's quality of life, not whether they are satisfied with it or what it lets them physically do. Developed by Jeffrey Jutai and Hy Day, the 26-item self-report scale captures the device's perceived effect across three dimensions: competence (feelings of efficacy and usefulness), adaptability (willingness to try new things and take part), and self-esteem (emotional well-being and confidence). Each item is rated on a bipolar scale from a strong decrease to a strong increase, so the instrument registers whether a device improves, leaves unchanged, or harms the user's psychosocial functioning — a distinctively quality-of-life-oriented assistive-technology outcome.