Disability and Rehabilitation-Assistive Technology最新文献

Purpose: This scoping review was conducted to understand the barriers, facilitators, and education and training needs of rehabilitation clinicians in their use of mainstream wireless technologies (MWT) to support people with disabilities and older adults. It was also conducted to understand the functional skills of clients that were targeted with MWT use.

Materials and methods: This scoping review was reported using PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) and the Population (or Participants)/Concept/Context) framework. We searched PubMed; ProQuest to access APA PsycINFO; Web of Science Core Collection; and EBSCOhost to access Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Ovid MEDLINE ALL, and Education Resources Information Center (ERIC). Articles published between 2015-2022 were retrieved.

Results: A total of 90 articles were included. Most interventions were apps, smartphones, and tablets; were geared toward adults; and targeted motor, cognitive and speech skills. An infographic on barriers and facilitators was generated as a decision support tool for clinicians when implementing MWT. The topic, format, timing, and source of information clinicians need are also delineated.

Conclusion: MWT such as apps, smartphones and tablets are being used by rehabilitation clinicians to address motor, cognitive, and speech skills, most commonly in adults. Clinicians voice a need for more education and training. Barriers and facilitators exist at the clinician-, technology-, client-, institution-, and policy levels.

Connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) will greatly impact the lives of individuals with visual impairments, but how they differ in expectations compared to sighted individuals is not clear. The present research reports results based on survey responses from 114 visually impaired participants and 117 panel recruited participants without visual impairments, from Germany. Their attitudes towards autonomous vehicles and their expectations for consequences of wide-spread adoption of CAVs are assessed. Results indicate significantly more positive CAV attitudes in participants with visual impairments compared to those without visual impairments. Mediation analyses indicate that visually impaired individuals' more positive CAV attitudes (compared to sighted individuals') are largely explained by higher hopes for independence, and more optimistic expectations regarding safety and sustainability. Policy makers should ensure accessibility without sacrificing goals for higher safety and lower ecological impact to make CAVs an acceptable inclusive mobility solution.

Assistive technology (AT) represents one way to improve access and participation in the school and home environments of people with disabilities (PWDs). This study analyzed the obstacles to AT acquisition, knowledge, use, recommendation, and training in special needs centers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from the perspective of professionals (teachers and therapists). A questionnaire was developed and its validity and reliability were confirmed. The questionnaire was distributed to all special-needs centers in the UAE via Survey Monkey, and 78 responses were received. The results indicate the nature of obstacles to AT use in special education centers in the UAE, with obstacles related to parents having the highest mean. The results also indicated a statistically significant difference in professionals' perception of obstacles to using AT based on experience level, center location, and level of education. Implications for further research and recommendations for policy and practice are provided.

Skills on Wheels, a 5-week pediatric wheelchair skills training program implemented over 2 years, was developed to address confidence, social participation, and mobility for wheelchair-using children. This study tests the hypothesis that pediatric wheelchair skills training will increase wheelchair skill ability, confidence, and participation of wheelchair-using children. Individualized instruction was delivered by occupational (N = 50) and physical (N = 12) therapy practitioners and doctoral students. The primary program intervention was adapted for pediatric wheelchair users from the adult Wheelchair Skills Training Program, developed by Dalhousie University, consisting of a total of 33 wheelchair skills. An adapted version of the Wheelchair Confidence measure (Wheel-Con-M-P), the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY), and Wheelchair Skills Test (WST) were used to measure participants confidence and ability to complete wheelchair skills, endurance, and participation and satisfaction in community, school, and home. The study resulted in: increases in confidence in ability to move wheelchair over threshold (+1.00, p < 0.05), ability to carry lunchbox/bookbag (+0.65, p < 0.05), ability to move in wheelchair when worried or scared (+1.3, p < 0.05), ability to ask for help, and ability to say "no" if they don't need help (+0.58, p < 0.05) were indicated. The WST indicated increased ability (p < 0.05) on several skills. The Fear of Falling Measure found an overall decrease in fear of falling (-2.37, p < 0.01). The Skills on Wheels program demonstrated many successes in this initial 2-year study and data suggest a positive trend for iterations to come.

Purpose: The objectives of this study⁽¹⁾ were threefold: to identify the main topics related to the international debate on Assistive Technology (AT) public policies, to analyze the Brazilian case in light of these topics, and to extract lessons that could be applied in Brazil and other countries to advance progress in the field.

Methodology: A qualitative study was conducted through a critical literature review, involving the search for, selection, and analysis of articles indexed in two information source portals and four databases from 2007 to 2023. International and Brazilian laws, reports, and other publications specifically related to AT policies were also included.

Results: The analysis of 186 articles and Brazilian documents facilitated the examination of four themes: AT policies from a human rights perspective, public procurement, service delivery systems, and national plans. A subset of 107 publications was then selected for detailed analysis.

Discussion: Initiatives such as implementing a national plan, establishing an AT research center, and creating a product catalog are considered virtuous. Enhancing the freedom of choice for products and developing public procurement mechanisms are identified as additional strategies to reinforce protections of human rights in Brazil.

Conclusions: Policy dynamics and national and international experiences suggest the potential for expanding initiatives and creating new solutions in Brazil. Universities and other scientific institutions emerge as promising loci for generating new knowledge to support the formulation of AT policies and facilitate their debate and further development.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease that leads to progressive muscle weakness and paralysis, ultimately resulting in the loss of ability to communicate and control the environment. EEG-based Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) methods have shown promise in providing communication and control with the aim of rehabilitating ALS patients. In particular, P300-based BCI has been widely studied and used for ALS rehabilitation. Other EEG-based BCI methods, such as Motor Imagery (MI) based BCI and Hybrid BCI, have also shown promise in ALS rehabilitation. Nonetheless, EEG-based BCI methods hold great potential for improvement. This review article introduces and reviews FFT, WPD, CSP, CSSP, CSP, and GC feature extraction methods. The Common Spatial Pattern (CSP) is an efficient and common technique for extracting data properties used in BCI systems. In addition, Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Neural Networks (NN), and Deep Learning (DL) classification methods were introduced and reviewed. SVM is the most appropriate classifier due to its insensitivity to the curse of dimensionality. Also, DL is used in the design of BCI systems and is a good choice for BCI systems based on motor imagery with big datasets. Despite the progress made in the field, there are still challenges to overcome, such as improving the accuracy and reliability of EEG signal detection and developing more intuitive and user-friendly interfaces By using BCI, disabled patients can communicate with their caregivers and control their environment using various devices, including wheelchairs, and robotic arms.

Purpose: Assistive technology for elderly are advancing, and this study aimed to analyse the Indian perspective on utilising assistive robot technology for aiding elderly individuals.

Materials and methods: A population-based survey was undertaken to collect data from three perspectives: Relatives of the elderly, Healthcare professionals and Elderly individuals. The survey gathered 389 responses. The responses are statistically analysed, and data is visualised with different plots for better understanding.

Results: It is observed that the older people rate with less conviction on the use of technology when compared to the relatives and healthcare professionals. Out of the three target groups, the elderly individuals had the most correlating attributes to purchasing the robot. Also, healthcare personnel, relatives, and older people gave 82%, 63% and 55% affirmatives to the question on purchasing the robot, respectively. And the cost of the robot is preferred to be under 6 lakh rupees.

Conclusions: Though the younger generation has more orientation towards technology, older people are skeptical about handling computer gadgets or robots. However, there are significant expectations and concerns expressed by three target groups such as conversational, navigational, reminder features, security and malfunction concerns.

Purpose: Mobility impairments are a common consequence of stroke and spinal cord injury (SCI). Assistive products (APs) such as wheelchairs are often needed for activities and participation. The aim of the study was to explore the provision and use of APs in Germany and to identify associated factors underlying this practice.

Materials and methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 professionals from outpatient neurorehabilitation services (three general practitioners, five physical therapists, five occupational therapists, one speech therapist, one neuropsychologist, two outpatient nurses, one rehab technician and one social worker), two patient advocates (long-term survivors, each stroke and SCI) and 20 patients (10 each after stroke and SCI with mobility impairment, and first-ever affected). Analysis was performed by qualitative content analysis.

Results: Reported experiences were mixed, varying from high satisfaction to unusable APs and unmet needs. Identified factors associated with these experiences were related to care pathways, care coordination, inter-professional collaboration, professionals' knowledge and patient information, cost coverage, and approval procedures.

Conclusion: Overall, patients seem satisfied with the APs they receive, but patients with more severe mobility impairments in particular experience deficits in the provision and use of APs. Further research is needed to develop and test strategies for the provision and use of APs.

Studies report that speech-to-text applications (STT) may support students with writing difficulties in text production. However, existing research is sparse, shows mixed results, and lacks information on STT interventions and their applicability in schools. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether a systematic and intensive assistive technology intervention focusing on STT can improve text production. A modified multiple-baseline across-subject design was used involving eight middle school students, four Norwegian and four Swedish. Their STT-produced narrative texts were collected during and after the intervention and the productivity, accuracy, and text quality were analysed. Keyboarding was the baseline control condition. The results demonstrated that seven of the eight students increased text productivity and that the proportion of word-level accuracy was maintained or improved. The use of punctuation progressed in participants with poor baseline skills. Most students' STT-produced texts had at least a similar ratio of meaningfulness and text quality as keyboarding. However, the magnitude of the changes and development patterns varied, with three students showing the most notable impacts. In conclusion, this study's intervention seemed beneficial in initially instructing STT, and the progress monitoring guided individually adapted future interventions such as balancing productivity and formal language aspects. Removing the spelling barrier with STT provided an opportunity for students to improve their higher-order skills, such as vocabulary diversity and overall text quality. Furthermore, visible progress, such as the ability to produce longer texts, might motivate continued STT usage. However, such development may not always be immediate.

This study aimed to explore the potential of a mobile health (mHealth) application (app) to support the delivery of a fall prevention and management program, Individualized Reduction of FaLLs (iROLL), for people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and multiple sclerosis (MS) who use wheelchairs and scooters (WC/S) full-time by seeking end-users' input into the functioning and ongoing design of the iROLL-O + mobile app. Two focus group discussions included nine adults with SCI or MS who used a WC/S for at least 75% of mobility, who experienced at least one fall in the past three years and have internet and access to an internet-capable device. One group had prior iROLL experience (n = 4); while the other had none (n = 5). The focus groups examined the app's usefulness, accessibility, appearance, and ease of use. The participants with prior iROLL experience also discussed how the app would enhance their experience with the program. Thematic analysis revealed five app-related themes: perceived usefulness, perceived usability, accessibility, appearance, and enhancement of the iROLL experience, with participants providing actionable suggestions for improvement. Participants with previous exposure to the iROLL program emphasized the app's potential to facilitate flexible access to the program and expand its reach to a wider audience. The iROLL-O + app was perceived positively, especially with respect to the enhancement of users' access and experience with the program. Focus group findings will inform ongoing app development for optimized usability and reduced likelihood of technology abandonment.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONEnd-users' impressions of the Individual Reduction of faLLs Online application (iROLL-O + app) highlight the potential for integrating mHealth apps in fall prevention and management education efforts, offering a promising and accessible avenue to support the delivery of tailored programs.The study notes that the app facilitates flexible access and wider reach to the program, indicating the importance of incorporating features that enhance accessibility and accommodate the diverse needs of individuals who use wheelchairs and scooters.Actionable suggestions provided by participants underscore the importance of a user-centered design approach in developing rehabilitation-related mobile apps.