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Purpose: To explore spouses' experiences of the value of mobility scooters prescribed to their partner., Material and Methods: A descriptive design with a qualitative approach was used. Thirteen spouses (11 females) aged 65-86 years participated. Semi-structured interviews were conducted when the spouse's partner had had the mobility scooter for 4-6 months. The interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis., Results: The interviews showed primarily that the spouses experienced that their everyday lives and life situation had improved since their partner had received a mobility scooter. They reported that they could engage in activities of their own choice to a greater extent. The prescription of a mobility scooter to their partner had also yielded a sense of freedom related to shared activities. On the other hand, the spouses described some of the scooter's limitations. Three categories emerged: a sense of freedom related to the spouse's own activities, a sense of freedom related to shared activities and a somewhat restricted freedom., Conclusion: Prescription of a powered mobility scooter was of value to the users' spouses because it facilitated independent and shared activities and participation in the community. The value was mainly expressed as a sense of freedom when doing things on their own or together with their partner. Spouses are key persons in the rehabilitation of people with mobility restrictions. Their views on the assistive device may influence the rehabilitation process. Knowledge of spouses' experiences is thus crucial, as this may influence the future rehabilitation outcome.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONA powered mobility scooter prescribed to one partner eases everyday life and increases activity and participation for the spouse, which in turn may further improve the quality of life for the scooter user.The spouses' perspectives on their partners' mobility scooter use could be helpful in developing the design of the mobility device and in the prescription process.A mobility scooter has an added value by giving a sense of freedom and freedom to choose for the spouse as well as the scooter user.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyse the cost-effectiveness of prescribing powered mobility devices (PMDs) to elderly users., Methods: Forty-five persons participated in the pre- and post-intervention study with a follow-up at four months. All participants were prescribed a scooter model and were offered individual support to get started using the PMD. In the analysis, the use of the PMD was compared to the situation prior to its use. The cost-utility analysis takes a societal perspective and considers costs, savings and quality of life (QoL) using answers to the EQ-5D questionnaire., Results: Costs for the first year with the PMD were 1395 USD and then 592 USD per subsequent year. There was a significant decrease in transportation costs and in relatives' time use, but the increase in QoL of 0.041 was not significant. Costs per gained quality adjusted life year (QALY) were 12 400-14 700 USD/QALY if the value of time saved not was considered and 600-2900 USD/QALY when an hour was valued at 3.6 USD., Conclusion: Prescription of PMDs to elderly users might be cost-effective. However, there are shortcomings in measuring QALY gains from the use of a PMD, and it is unclear how time savings among relatives should be valued. Implications for Rehabilitation Prescription of powered mobility devices for the elderly with disability seems to be cost effective and should be a standard intervention. In economic evaluations of powered mobility devices and other assistive devices, the commonly used analyses methods are not always appropriate and therefore need to be adjusted.

Purpose: The aim was to explore the effect of using a powered mobility device (PMD) on older peoples' activity, participation and quality of life (QoL)., Method: A pre- and post-intervention design with outcome measures for activity, participation (Individually Prioritized Problem Assessment, IPPA; World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule, WHODAS 2.0) and QoL (SF-36) were used. T-test was used to analyse the data. The magnitude of the effects was measured by Cohen's criteria for effect sizes (d)., Results: The sample consisted of 45 individuals (36 men) aged 66-88 years referred for prescription of a PMD. All were prescribed a powered scooter (PS). A statistically significant improvement with a large effect on IPPA in the ICF domains of Self-care (d = 2.47), Domestic life (d = 2.40), Interpersonal interactions and relationships (d = 2.08), and Community, social, and civic life (d = 2.36) was found. Medium-sized improvement on the WHODAS 2.0 domain of Participation and small improvements in the SF-36 domains of Physical Health and Role-Physical were also found., Conclusion: A PS has significant effects on the areas of activity, participation and QoL in elderly people. These findings have implications for prescriptions of a PS to this population. Implications for Rehabilitation Powered scooter interventions increased the performance of activities and increased participation in elderly people with mobility limitations. Actions from several parts of the community are required to prevent from mishaps from using powered scooters. The Individually Prioritized Problem Assessment is an adequate method to measure goal attainment in elderly users of powered scooters.