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Purpose: The aims of the current study include to: (1) describe the item development; and (2) begin the process of establishing the internal consistency and known-groups validity of the Self-Directed Mobility Scale. The purpose of the scale is to assess paediatric physical and occupational therapists' views towards self-directed mobility and their perceived ability and intentions to advocate for children's access to self-directed mobility.Methods: Three individuals with expertise in kinesiology, psychology, paediatric rehabilitation, and disability studies served as the expert panel for item development. Four samples were included to determine internal consistency and known-groups validity: 350 physical therapists, 89 occupational therapists, 279 kinesiology undergraduate students, and 528 health and wellness undergraduate students.Results: The internal consistency was above the acceptable level of 0.70 (range = 0.72-0.77) for all samples when two items regarding promoting other motor skills prior to powered mobility use and the temporary use of a mobility device were removed. Known-groups validity was established between all samples.Conclusions: The Self-Directed Mobility Scale appears to be a valid tool for assessing views of self-directed mobility and mobility advocacy intentions in paediatric physical and occupational therapists, as well as undergraduate students. Future work should examine the internal consistency based on study sample to ensure the (> 0.70) acceptable Cronbach's alpha level is met.Implications for rehabilitationThe Self-Directed Mobility Scale is a viable measurement tool to assess views of self-directed mobility and mobility advocacy intentions of pediatric physical and occupational therapists.In combination with other measures, the Self-Directed Mobility Scale may be used in future rehabilitation research to evaluate factors associated with provision of mobility technology to children with disabilities.

Unfavorable attitudes or stigma toward people with disabilities are invisible barriers that contribute to social inequities such as disparities in higher education enrollment and degree completion. Additionally, disability models, or underlying beliefs about whether disability is a problem inherent

Approximately 70% of new mothers do not meet national guidelines for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The Nā Mikimiki (“the active ones”) Project (2008-2011) was designed to increase MVPA among women with infants 2-12 months old. Participants’ barriers to exercising and achievement of specific MVPA goals were discussed during telephone counseling calls over 12-months. Healthy, inactive women (n=115, mean age=31 ±5 years, infants’ mean age = 5.5 ± 3 months; 80% racial/ethnic minorities) received a total of 17 calls over 12 months, in three phases. During Phase 1 weekly calls were made for a month; in Phase 2 biweekly calls were made for two months, and in Phase 3 monthly calls were made for nine months. Across all Phases, the most frequent barriers to achieving MVPA goals were: time/too busy (25%), sick child (11%), and illness (10%). Goals for MVPA minutes per week were achieved or surpassed 40.6% of the time during weekly calls, 39.9% during biweekly calls and 42.0% during monthly calls. The least likely MVPA goals to be achieved (p < 0.04) were those which the woman encountered and for which she failed to overcome the barriers she had previously anticipated would impair her improvement of MVPA. This process evaluation demonstrated that telephone counseling somewhat facilitated the resolution of barriers and achievement of MVPA goals; thus, if clinical settings adopted such methods, chronic disease risks could be reduced in this vulnerable population of new mothers.

Background Emergent disability studies research is interested in the community's views on how disability, including self-directed mobility, influences social and environmental policies. We anticipate that individuals' alignment with disability models, or sets of assumptions about the cause, nature, and treatment of disability, will influence attitudes about self-directed mobility. Self-directed mobility is defined as mobility that is controlled by an individual and may include walking or assisted ambulation through the use of mobility technology such as prosthetics, walking aids, manual wheelchairs, or motorized wheelchairs. Objective The purpose of this study was to explore how demographic factors, contact with people with disabilities, attitudes toward people with disabilities, and alignment with social or medical models of disability predict attitudes toward self-directed mobility. Methods 1545 students at a public university completed demographic questions, and measures of disability attitudes, disability model orientation, and self-directed mobility. Results The predictors explained 16.60% of the variance in participants' attitudes toward self-directed mobility (R2 = 0.166, F(7,1537) = 43.9, p Conclusions Participants who more strongly agreed with disability as a social construct (social model) were in stronger agreement that self-directed mobility is a fundamental right. Future research extending to rehabilitation professionals is warranted.