Users First Rolls Toward Relevance

ATLANTA — Amputees receive prosthetic legs with relatively
little payer resistance. Wheelchairs are a different matter.

Why do O&P professionals get the funding that home care
providers can only dream of? “There are a lot of reasons,” said Ann
Eubank, MSSW, OTR/L, ATP, at a Nov. 17 Medtrade session on consumer
advocacy. “One of them is that in our culture we do not value
wheels.”

Two decades after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
revolutionized access for people with disabilities, glaring gaps
remain. Pointing out those deficiencies is one of the many goals of
Eubank in her role as executive director of Users First Alliance, a
501c3 non-profit dedicated to ensuring appropriate access to
seating and mobility equipment by empowering wheelchair users,
clinicians and providers through education.

Users First Alliance (www.usersfirst.org) gives providers and
patients tools and ideas to fight for access to mobility equipment.
Based on the premise that people with disabilities are
underrepresented, Eubank contends that like any minority, those
people must organize and agitate for change.

“You don’t want consumers to be passive,” said Eubank, who also
conducts educational/advocacy seminars for Tenn.-based Permobil.
“From a sales point of view, they [patients] are going to fight for
better products. No one in this country has rights without forming
a voice. If we keep them silent by not offering choice — not
allowing them to be mad — they will never have a voice.”

So far, the message is working, membership is increasing and
social networking via FaceBook has attracted more than 1,000 fans.
The momentum started at the International Seating Symposium back in
March 2007, and has continued with a University of Pittsburgh
partnership.

Despite the efforts of industry groups, Eubank is convinced that
lawmakers must hear from a lot more wheelchair users to raise
awareness and capitalize on the 20-year anniversary of the ADA.
“They [legislators] don’t know the difference between what you do
and the drop-ship-and-drive model,” said Eubank. “They also don’t
care if all of you go out of business.”

Eubank is determined to boost membership and clout, while adding
another powerful voice to a growing consumer movement. Ultimately,
she believes that teaching consumers how to fight can
work, and providers must join in and educate consumers. “If you
give up,” said Eubank, “We won’t have a Medtrade anymore. We can
touch every wheelchair user and physical therapist. They do not say
‘no’ to us.”