Wheelchair Consensus Symposium
Approaches to wheelchair provision in less resourced settings in the Asia Pacific region
25 & 26 September 2008
UniSA City West campus, 50-60 North Terrace (Bradley Forum and GK 2-15)
Jointly presented by Motivation, Engineers Australia and The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre at UniSA
 |
 |
 |
Public lecture presented by David Constantine
Wheelchair
Provision in Less Resourced Settings - Motivation's Approach
with David Constantine
Thursday 25 September
David will be presenting an overview of the need for appropriate
wheelchair provision in low income countries, and the solutions developed by
Motivation working closely with local partner organisations and wheelchair
users themselves.
Wheelchair Consensus Symposium 25 & 26 September 2008
Symposium program
Audio transcripts listed below (unedited) all files are saved as an mp3 format - file sizes shown
-
The context of wheelchair provision in less resourced settings (30.6 MB)
-
Introduction to the WHO Guidelines (4.8 MB)
-
Design and Production (33.9 MB)
-
Service delivery and training (27.7 MB)
-
Policy and planning – and the role of Australian stakeholders (20.7 MB)
-
Evening public lecture: Wheelchair Provision in Less Resourced Settings – Motivation’s Approach with David Constantine (28 MB)
Symposium program enquiries: Kylie Mines, Motivation Australia
T: 08 8556 4423 or E:
kmines@motivation.org.uk
For people with a mobility disability, provision of a wheelchair which meets their physical, lifestyle and environmental needs can enable vastly improved health, social and economic well being.
However, an estimated 20 million people living in low income countries require a wheelchair and do not have one.
Recognising the important role Australian organisations can play in working to address this need, Motivation Australia, the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre and the National Committee on Rehabilitation Engineering are co-presenting the Wheelchair Consensus Symposium. The Symposium will draw together stakeholders in disability and development in less resourced settings in Australia and the Asia Pacific region, to:
- Introduce the WHO Guidelines on the Provision of Manual Wheelchairs in Less Resourced Settings
- Increase awareness of the need for appropriate mobility equipment for people with physical disabilities
- Share information and programme approaches to the provision of appropriate wheelchairs
- Increase collaboration between stakeholders in order to increase effectiveness
- Develop consensus on future approaches to wheelchair provision in the region
This event will be held over two days, with day one (Thursday 25 September) as plenary sessions, and day two (Friday 26 September) break-out sessions for stakeholders, to discuss key issues and suggest strategies.
Themes of the Symposium will be:
- wheelchair design and production
- wheelchair services
- training of local staff
- roles of Australian stakeholders
The Wheelchair Consensus Symposium is supported by AusAID through the International Seminar Support Scheme.
 |
|
Motivation
David Constantine is Co-Founder and
Executive Officer of Motivation UK, a registered charity which works in
partnership with a range of organisations to create sustainable projects to
enhance the quality of life of people with mobility disabilities in
developing countries.
When travelling around Australia in 1982 at the age of 21, David misjudged a
dive on Fraser Island and broke his neck at level C4/5, which left him
quadriplegic. After completing a degree in Computer Studies, David worked at
IBM for two years and then took an MA in Computer Related Industrial Design
at the Royal College of Art (RCA). While at the RCA David, along with fellow
student Simon Gue, designed an award winning wheelchair for the developing
world. Together with Richard Frost they travelled to Bangladesh to test
their design, and in 1991 returned to set up the first Motivation project, a
workshop producing affordable and appropriate wheelchairs with a simple
design.
Since 1991 Motivation has worked in more than 30 countries. It is one of the
few organisations to deal with both the provision of disability products and
services and the wider social and economic needs of people with mobility
disabilities.
Our work is categorised by five key issues: products and services, economic
empowerment, rights and capacity. Our activities include the design and
provision of low-cost appropriate wheelchairs, vocational training
programmes to help disabled people into mainstream employment, working with
local disabled people's organisations (DPO's) to help people access and
lobby for their rights in society, and building the capacity of DPO's to
help them better serve the needs of their members.
David is also a semi-professional photographer whose work has been exhibited
throughout the UK and USA (see
www.sittingimages.com and
www.vwworldseries.com).
While the views presented by speakers within the Hawke Centre public
program are their own and are not necessarily those of either the University
of South Australia or The Hawke Centre, they are presented in the interest
of open debate and discussion in the community and reflect our themes of:
strengthening our democracy - valuing our cultural diversity - and building
our future.