Friday, March 29, 2024

ANNOUNCE: Improving Prostheses – Farmers and Ranchers Survey

Craig W Heckathorne

Participants invited for ongoing survey:

[Thank you! to those who have already participated or who have passed this announcement to others!]

The Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center, in partnership with the National AgrAbility Project, is conducting a survey of farmers, ranchers, agricultural workers, and livestock handlers who have limb amputations. The purpose of the survey is to determine how prosthetic components used (or rejected) by farmers and ranchers can be improved to better serve these individuals. We are also interested in how farmers and ranchers view the services associated with obtaining and maintaining a prosthesis.

The survey was created based on preliminary interviews with 40 farmers who have either upper-limb or lower-limb amputations and 26 Certified Prosthetists who provide service to farmers and ranchers. The interviews identified several areas of concern, including durability, environmental effects, adaptations, cost, and education and training.

Our objective in this survey is to have a broader representation of the concerns of farmers and ranchers with limb amputations in order to establish priorities for improvements. Specifically, we want to increase the representation of different types and levels of amputation, different farming and livestock operations, the variety of components used or tried and rejected, and the diversity of geographic regions.

The survey is available online and in print form. The links for the separate online versions of the Upper-Limb and Lower-Limb Surveys of farmers and ranchers with amputations and instructions for obtaining printed copies can be found here:
http://www.nupoc.northwestern.edu/nupoc-research/other/Other_PDFs/FarmerRancher_AmpRecruit.pdf

If you would like more information about the project, please visit the project page on the NUPOC website at: http://www.nupoc.northwestern.edu/nupoc-research/other/prosthetics_agworkers

A webinar with the results of the interviews is also available on the National AgrAbility Project website at: http://agrability.org/Online-Training/archived/2012virtualntw.cfm
The title of the presentation is “Experiences with Prosthetics and What Is Needed: Results of Systematic Interviews with Farmers and Prosthetists”.

You are also welcome to contact me for more information.

Your assistance in distributing the survey announcement to farmers and ranchers with limb amputations would be greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,
Craig Heckathorne

Project Director, Assessing and Responding to the Prosthetics Needs of Farmers and Ranchers (NIDRR)
______________________________________________________
Craig W. Heckathorne, MS
Research Engineer
Specialist, Upper-limb Prosthetics
Northwestern University
Prosthetics-Orthotics Center
680 N. Lake Shore Dr.
Chicago, IL 60611
phone: 312-503-5723
fax: 312-503-5760
email: [email protected]
website: http://www.nupoc.northwestern.edu/

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