Managing Postural Needs During Airline Travel:

  • Managing Postural Needs During Airline Travel:

    Understanding the Perspective of Health Professionals

  • Background

    This survey aims to gather insights from healthcare professionals on supporting people with postural needs to travel by air. It is part of a wider research project that is looking into the barriers that people with postural needs face when travelling by air. The ultimate aim is to make recommendations on how to make flying more accessible.

    Occupational Therapists (OTs) and other aligned healthcare professionals have the potential to make significant positive impact in this field, and therefore we want to know what you think. Even if you have no direct experience of facilitating postural needs during air travel but work in a relevant area, your answers will have value, so do please continue to complete this survey.

    Who is running the survey?

    The research has been initiated by Driving Mobility and is being conducted by ableMove Ltd under their oversight. 

    Your Contribution & Your Data

    Your answers will contribute to a dataset of up to 100 answers. This dataset will be analysed and the results will contribute to a broader report which will be published by Driving Mobility.

    Please be informed that your data will remain anonymous throughout the project, and there will be no follow up to your answers. We may choose to quote from you directly, but if we choose to do so we will use a pseudonym to ensure that you are non-identifiable. We respectfully ask you to answer the questions as honestly as possible.

    Your data will be kept on a secure ableMove Ltd database for up to five years after the report is published, at which point it will be destroyed.

    Note on Definitions:

    A Person with Postural Seating Needs:

    "Any person who is unable to sit in a standard airline seat without additional / supplemental postural support devices".

    A Postural Support Device:

    "Any item that is required to support postural seating needs. This covers head and neck support; trunk support; pelvic support; and foot support"

    Devices can range from specialist products purposefully designed to support posture, such as back supports and pressure care cushions, to more ad hoc off the shelf products such as bean bags or pillows.

    Postural Support Systems:

    "Any one postural support system is unique to the needs of the individual and can include a combination of several of the different devices named above."

    Eligibility

    You are eligible to complete this survey if you are a health professional such as an occupational therapist or physiotherapist, working in the UK. You are also eligible if you are a UK based case worker. 

    How we Use Language

    Throughout this survey we wish to communicate in a way that supports respectful human connection and understanding. To do so, we are guided by the values of Open Inclusion, you can click on the link to read more about their approach.

    Next steps

    This survey should take no longer than fifteen to twenty minutes to complete. 

    By completing the survey, you confirm you are eligible for the survey and consent to all of the above.

    Thank you for your interest!

     

     

     

     

     

  • About You

    We need some background details about you and your professional experience to understand the current situation. Please answer as honestly as possible
  • What is your profession? Tick all that apply

  • Where do you live

    Please select the appropriate region, this will help us understand how close you live to an assessment centre
  • How long have you worked in your profession?

  • Supporting Individuals to Manage Their Postural Needs During Airline Travel

    Tell us about your experience
  • How often, on average, are you asked to support an individual to manage their postural needs during airline travel?
  • What is the most common age group of the clients you have worked with to support their postural needs during air travel?
  • If you have supported clients to fly, what has been the most common length of flight you have facilitated clients for?
  • Have you supported an individual to manage their postural needs during airline travel at any part of their journey, please tick all that apply
  • Have you conducted postural needs assessments for airline travel yourself?
  • If yes you have conducted assessments, where have you conducted them? Please tick all that apply
  • Do you have access to a range of postural needs equipment to trial for the purposes of airline travel?
  • Where did you get your information from in order to support persons to manage their postural needs during airline travel, please tick all that apply

  • Your Confidence and Competency Managing Postural Needs

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  • Have you ever had training to facilitate individuals to manage their postural needs during airline travel?
  • Rows

  • Please take a look at a range of postural support systems that exist on the market today. These are designed to help manage peoples postural support needs, and can be used for air travel. 

  • Please can you tell us if you were aware of any of the above?

  • Air Travel Advice Services, Specialist Assessment Centres & Specialist Equipment

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    There are three specialist advice centres in the UK: the Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People (QEF) at Carshalton; the William Merritt Centre in Leeds; and the Regional Driving Assessment Centre (RDAC) in Birmingham. All three are supported by Driving Mobility. 

    Each centre offers expert assessment and advice, tailored to the needs of the individual, led by specialist professional staff. They have a mock aircraft cabin environment (see photo) where people can physically trial postural support equipment, including trialling transfers in and out of the airline seat.

    The services also offer online assessment and advice, and are a central resource for reliable and good quality information on airline travel. 

     

  • Were you aware of any of the following centres? Please tick all that apply
  • Have you ever signposted to any of the centres? Please tick all that apply
  • Have you accessed or attended any of these air travel advice services? Please tick all that apply
  • How far do you think it is realistic to expect users to travel to an air travel advice centre?

  • What are your attitudes towards supporting persons with postural needs to fly

  • Do you consider facilitating the postural support needs for a person in flight to be a part of your job?
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  • Are you aware that there are policies and legal frameworks in place to ensure that everyone has an equal right to travel, which includes being eligible for reasonable accommodation to meet needs?
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