KU occupational therapy student developed program for Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art to improve experiences of wheelchair users
KU School of Health Professions doctoral student created capstone project to boost wheelchair users’ access and improve visitors’ experiences at the historic museum
On a recent winter morning, 25 employees and volunteers at Kansas City’s renowned Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art learned the safest ways to assist their visitors who use wheelchairs. The training was led by Caroline Shearer, an occupational therapy doctoral candidate at the University of Kansas School of Health Professions.
As part of her capstone project required for graduation, Shearer partnered with The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art to help navigate an issue the museum had been trying to solve: assisting their visitors who use wheelchairs in navigating the marbled hallways, narrow entryways, older elevators and long ramps in the historic facility, which first opened in 1933. Managers at the museum had been looking for a way to train their employees and volunteers on this issue for a while. The Nelson-Atkins is known for taking great care to improve and maintain accessibility for its visitors.
“We knew we needed expertise on this kind of training,” said Lana Seibert, educator for access programs at the Nelson-Atkins. “We asked medical supply companies and hospitals, but never found anyone who could help until we met Caroline.”
training with assistance from Renee Rains, OTD, KU
clinical assistant professor and doctoral capstone
coordinator. Goals of the program include helping
museum staff feel comfortable and knowledgeable
when offering assistance to wheelchair users and
their caregivers.
The training was the first of its kind at one of Kansas City’s biggest and most popular sites for families, children and tourists. Eventually the training will be recorded and used as part of new employee orientation at the Nelson-Atkins.
Shearer’s training also addressed the need to help museum staff feel comfortable offering assistance to people in wheelchairs and their caretakers, without overstepping physical or psychological boundaries people may have.
“Our main goal for the training was to help the staff have a better sense of how to anticipate problems for wheelchair users and to feel comfortable interacting and offering help,” Shearer said. “We show them examples of interactions and do role-plays.”
One of the goals of the capstone project is to provide something beneficial to the community while also creating a valuable educational experience for the student. Shearer worked for a year to identify existing access issues at the museum, find the strengths of the institution and set priorities for how to implement changes, all while working closely with administrators at the museum.
“I love occupational therapy, because I enjoy meeting people where they are in their healing journey,” said Shearer. “Some people think that we ‘fix things’ for patients, but we focus on what people want and need … and we help them do what is meaningful to them.” As a child visiting her grandparents in the Kansas City area, Shearer remembers going to the Nelson-Atkins. “I loved the art, and museum visits developed into a leisure activity,” she said. “I want to help eliminate barriers for people who might not know that they do have access to places like this.”