Abstract

In August 2010, Honda and Kumamoto Prefecture concluded a comprehensive agreement concerning proof experiments of next-generation personal mobility. In accordance with that agreement, electric carts were provided on loan to elderly people and an evaluation was made of how the resulting augmentation of their mobility changed their quality of life.Using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form as an index for evaluating quality of life, changes in the subjective state of health of the experimental subjects were verified. Their life-space mobility was evaluated using the Life-Space Assessment. In order to reinforce those evaluations, the Activities Monitoring and Evaluation System was also used to carry out evaluation of everyday bodily activity.The results indicated a tendency for the use of electric carts to expand life-space mobility and contribute to enhancement of overall sense of health, activity, and other such aspects of quality of life.The following will report on these proof experiment results.

References

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Author (organization or company)

• Tadahiro YAGUCHI（Automobile R&D Center）
• Yoshinori MASUBUCHI（Power Products R&D Center）
• Makoto YAMAMURA（Power Products R&D Center）
• Go NAKAMOTO（Honda Motor Co., Ltd.）
• Hidetoshi KAWASHIMA（Japanese Red Cross Society's Kumamoto Health Care Center）

Publication Information

Article of Honda R&D Technical Review Vol.27 No.1 (77 - 84)

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