Mahmood, A., Ford, H. T., Rikhtehgaran, F., & Mortenson, W. B. (2023, June 21). Adapting Stakeholders Walkability/Wheelability Audit In Neighborhoods Tool for People with Sensory and Cognitive Disabilities.

Abstract

About one billion people around the world experience some form of disability. There are evidence indicating that neighbourhood environment influence health, social inclusion, and overall wellbeing of people living with disabilities (PLWD). While numerous studies examine the impact of neighbourhood environment on the lives of people with mobility disabilities, more research is needed to understand the lived experiences of people with sensory and cognitive disabilities. According to the literature, including people with lived experiences in the evaluation of person-environment interaction can reveal hidden knowledge and new perspectives. To involve people with sensory and cognitive disabilities in our study as co-investigators of the impact of their neighbourhood environment, we adapted the Stakeholders' Walkability/Wheelability Audit in Neighbourhoods (SWAN) tool that was originally designed for people with mobility disabilities. By using this tool, people can actively engage in evaluating the impact of neighbourhood environments across five domains: functionality, safety, appearance and maintenance, land use and supportive features, and social aspects. In this paper, we present the main steps and takeaways of the process of adapting the SWAN tool for three user groups: people living with 1) Blindness or low vision, 2) Deafness and hearing loss, and 3) Dementia. Key steps in the iterative tool adaptation process include 1) identifying access needs/challenges for the three user groups based on a literature review, 2) online consultation with stakeholders with lived and/or professional experience (N = 4) to prioritize key access needs/challenges that will be captured through the SWAN tool and review draft versions of the tool, and 3) in-person pilot testing of tool with persons with lived experience (N = 2) in two urban/suburban neighbourhoods in Metro Vancouver, Canada. Based on the reflections of team members and input obtained from stakeholders and pilot participants, we addressed the following issues during the tool development process: 1) length of audit and participant fatigue, 2) legibility of the tool, and 3) reorganization of audit questions in accordance with participants' needs and context.

Keywords: sensory and cognitive disability, assessing neighbourhood environment, SWAN tool, neighbourhood audits adaptation

Presenters