Currently, there are no clinical or industry standards for expected wheelchair maintenance, and fewer than 50 percent of wheelchair users are trained in wheelchair maintenance.

The wheelchair maintenance class started when Oregon Spinal Cord Injury Connection received a grant to bring more wheelchair repair classes to cities across Oregon.

Among wheelchair users with spinal cord injury 42 percent reported adverse consequences related to needing wheelchair repair, according to a team of experts in spinal cord injury rehabilitation.

More than 50% of wheelchairs break down in a typical six-month period, experts say. And while those in the industry point to many causes, people who use wheelchairs suffer the consequences.

Like a car, wheelchairs require maintenance and are not one size fits all. Much of Bello’s work with SCI Active Network centered on creating videos about custom wheelchair maintenance, which helps ...