Outcomes retention and impact of demographic characteristics and engagement for a community-based peer-led eHealth wheelchair skills training program

BACKGROUND: Manual wheelchairs (MWCs) are essential for individuals with mobility impairments, yet many users receive limited training, restricting mobility and participation. Innovative alternatives to therapist-led approaches, including eHealth and peer-led interventions, are emerging to address this gap. PURPOSE: This follow-up study examined long-term retention of participation and related outcomes 6 months after an eHealth wheelchair skills training program. Secondary aims explored associations between participant demographics, program engagement and post-intervention outcomes. METHODS: program, comprising a tablet-based app with 200+ instructional videos and three peer-led teleconferences. Outcomes included participation, wheelchair skills capacity and performance, self-efficacy and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). FINDINGS: = 18) maintained or improved statistically significant gains in participation, skills and self-efficacy but not HRQoL. Improvements were comparable across demographic groups, whereas meeting recommended engagement guidelines was linked to larger gains in skills and confidence. CONCLUSION: benefits were largely retained at 6 months. eHealth and peer-led approaches offer promising, sustainable alternatives to traditional clinician-led MWC skills training. Clinical Trial Registration No. NCT04090177.