The University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology has been awarded a grant from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop the International Society of Wheelchair Professionals (ISWP). ISWP will be built around a federation of regional and international Affiliate Members and Partners which will help ensure ISWP activities are culturally relevant, timely, and focused on the most important wheelchair-related issues.

ISWP will initially be led by a group of wheelchair experts at University of Pittsburgh, with strategic partnerships that have already been established with USAID & The World Health Organization (WHO). ISWP’s mission will be that wheelchair users are provided the best technology with the best service worldwide. This will be accomplished by promoting the WHO Guidelines on the provision of manual wheelchairs in less resourced settings, promoting training and research activities and improving wheelchair design, manufacturing and coordinating services. To that end, ISWP Affiliates will be representative of all of the stakeholders with the addition of research institutions dedicated to improving wheelchair services through evidence-based practice.

For more information, take a look at the ISWP website, by clicking here.