Access to Fly

Developing user-based recommendations to support air travel for people with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)

This project is a US-Canada collaboration. The overall goal of Access to Fly! is Improving the experiences of air travel of individuals with SCI by developing evidence and user-informed recommendations for the design of training resources for airline employees.

Content Section

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This study is a multi-methods approach to answer three objectives:

  1. Provide an in-depth understanding of the…
    1. Individuals with SCI’s air travel experiences, accessibility needs, and barriers to safe and accessible travel
    2. Airline employees and leadership experiences with air travelers with disability, their knowledge and training needs
  2. Identify the gaps in existing accessibility standards, guidelines, and policies regarding air travel and personnel training
  3. In collaboration with individuals with SCI, co-create recommendations for airline and airport personnel training, as well as informational resources to facilitate safe travel

This project is a first phase. The team aim to develop a training and test its impact as a second phase.

Funding

This project is funded by the Craig H. Nielsen Foundation, Psychosocial Research – Pilot Grant # 1143096 (2024-2026)

Team

Principal investigators
Delphine Labbé, Department of Disability and Human Development, College of Applied Health Sciences, UIC, Chicago, USA
William C Miller, Department of Occupation Therapy and Occupational Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Students
Odile Carroll, UIC PhD in Disabilities Studies
Daryl Yao, UIC PhD in Disabilities Studies

Community partners
Paralyzed Veteran of America (https://pva.org/)
Spinal Cord Injury BC (https://sci-bc.ca/)
Spinal Cord Injury Ontario (https://sciontario.org/)