Acessibilidade para usuários de cadeira de rodas em estabelecimentos comerciais: o caso de cidades turísticas da Serra Gaúcha / Accessibility for wheelchair users in commercial establishments: the case of tourist cities of Serra Gaúcha

O artigo visa analisar em que medida os estabelecimentos comerciais de duas cidades turísticas da Serra Gaúcha são acessíveis aos usuários de cadeira de rodas. A pesquisa é de natureza básica, de caráter descritivo e realizada sob o paradigma quantitativo e qualitativo. Foi realizado um estudo de caso em duas cidades da Serra Gaúcha, onde foram analisados 377 estabelecimentos comerciais. Os resultados indicaram que 38,45% dos estabelecimentos estudados oferecem rampas adequadas e somente 1,32% disponibilizam sanitários adaptados. Portas acessíveis foram identificadas em 80,36%, bem superior aos demais itens analisados, porém ainda insuficiente para garantir a acessibilidade universal. Pode-se inferir que se encontrou um número significativo de barreiras arquitetônicas que interferem negativamente na acessibilidade da população local e dos turistas usuários de cadeira de rodas.

The article aims to analyze in what extent the commercial establishments of two tourist cities of the Serra Gaúcha are accessible to wheelchair users. The research has a basic nature, a descriptive character and was performed under the quantitative and qualitative paradigm. The case study was carried out in two cities of the Serra Gaúcha, where 377 commercial establishments were analyzed. The results indicated that 38.45% of the establishments studied offer adequate ramps and only 1.32% offer adapted toilets. Accessible doors were identified at 80.36%, well above the other items analyzed, but still insufficient to guarantee universal accessibility. It can be inferred that a significant number of architectural barriers have been found that interfere negatively in the accessibility of the local population and the wheelchair users.

Opportunities to access equal health care services for people who are heavily disabled / Монголын Анагаах Ухаан

Background. There are at least 650 million people and one out or every 10 people worldwide has a disability. In Mongolia, around 128.000 people with disabilities and 12.000 are wheelchair users. Disabilities affect people in different ways. Causing trouble to their economy, their social life, mental and daily self care.The people with disabilities in Mongolia have much difficulties for their daily activities, have limited possibilities to be included in a health and social services equally and the status to become isolated from the society of them and their families are the invariable problem for them.Goal. To study and evaluate the daily embarrassments and problems of the disabled people and the standard medical environment for them.Results. The 55.8% were male and 4.2% were female of the participants in the survey 88.4% of them answered that they can use their wheelchairs in even land and square only. The 76.4% of the participants do not use public transportation and there is no road for the wheelchair users, no ramp is planned for the citizens with wheelchairs in service centers and organizations and so these are the facing problems for the disabled citizens in Mongolia.It demonstrates that the standard for the disabled citizens is not considered in the medical environmental standards seemingly from no ramp is planned for the citizens with wheelchairs in 92% of the hospitals, no elevator for the citizens with wheelchairs in 91% of the hospitals, 88% of the hospitals have not equipped their toilets with the equipments for the disabled citizens, and 91 % of the hospitals have not planned a room for the disabled citizens for the hospitals included in the surveys.Conclusions:1. Wheelchair users mostly dependent for daily and creative activities. Also they have limited social opportunities because there is no appropriate environment.2. Hospitals involved in the research showed that disabled people have limited health services, hospital environmental standard is not appropriate for them and 1,2 and 3 level of hospitals must setup infrastructure for the disabled people.

Upper Extremity Peripheral Nerve Entrapments among Wheelchair Users

Pain, numbness, and weakness in the upper extremity are the common problems among wheelchair users. The prevalence of nerve injury of the upper extremity in the wheelchair users has been reported variously by many authors in other nations. To determine the prevalence, location, and risk factors of upper extremity peripheral nerve entrapment among wheelchair users, we performed clinical and electrodiagnostic assessments on both upper extremities of wheelchair users (n=49) and able-bodied controls (n=49). The prevalence of nerve entrapment of the upper extremity among the wheelchair users was 15.6% according to clinical criteria, and 46.9% according to electrodiagnostic criteria. Electrodiagnostically, median nerve entrapment was identified in 28.6% of tested cases, and ulnar nerve entrapment was identified in 22.4% of tested cases among wheelchair users. The carpal tunnel was the most common site of nerve entrapment. The duration of wheelchair use was found to be correlated negatively with median wrist to palm and wrist to digit sensory conduction velocity, whereas age correlated positively with distal median and ulnar motor latency.