Disability and Rehabilitation-Assistive Technology最新文献

Purpose: In the disability support sector, empathy is a critical skill needed by frontline workers. Virtual Reality technology may enhance empathy. Some disability service providers have adopted Virtual Reality to advance their training practices. Currently, it is unknown how accepting the Australian disability support workforce is of Virtual Reality technology. This study evaluates the internal and external factors that are significant in influencing disability support sector employees' acceptance of Virtual Reality technology. Method: A quantitative study using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was completed by 120 cross-sectional respondents from the Australian disability workforce. Data were collected via an online questionnaire with a Likert scale, and analysed using descriptive statistics, reliability, correlation, and path analysis. Results: The external factors of curiosity, and past use had a significant relationship with the acceptance of virtual reality technology. Conclusion: Understanding factors relating to VR acceptance may facilitate greater adoption of VR training programs aimed to enhance empathetic behaviour in the disability support sector. The current study offers important insight relating to key determinants that facilitate the acceptance of VR technology for the disability services workforce. The five recommendations address the crucial findings - (1) evaluate the level of curiosity, (2) evaluate the level of past use, (3) offer hands-on VR workshops, (4) cultivate a sustainable collaborative design environment around training and technology adoption, and (5) cultivate a sustainable collaborative culture that is informative and fosters innovation.

Aims: Wearable devices such as activity monitors can be used to gain insight into children's physical behavior. However, children who are unable to walk are often excluded from validation studies, and therefore, robust information about their physical behavior is lacking. Therefore, we studied the criterion validity of a wearable prototype activity monitor (AM-p) in children who use a manual wheelchair with and without the ability to walk.

Methods: We analyzed the data for both single-sensor (sensor placement on upper arm or ankle) and dual-sensor use. Therefore, we conducted a study with cross-sectional design, assessing 37 children (12 girls) aged 6-19 years (mean 12 years, SD 4.3). Children wore an AM-p on the ankle and upper arm and were filmed while performing an activity protocol in a natural setting. Videos were labeled per 5-second epoch with individual activity labels. Raw data were synchronized with labels. An algorithm was trained, and labels were subdivided into pre-defined activity categories. Overall accuracy and F1 score (harmonic mean of precision and recall) were calculated per activity.

Findings: We demonstrate that the single ankle-worn AM-p can determine "stationary" behavior with excellent accuracy (>90%) and "locomotion" behavior with moderate to good accuracy (77-80%). "Locomotion" behavior includes active wheelchair use of children, which can assist pediatric physical therapists (PPTs) to assess physical behavior correctly in children who use a manual wheelchair. Exploratory analyses indicate that "locomotion" behavior (dual-sensor use), can be divided into "leg activity" and "active wheelchair use" for children who use a manual wheelchair and have the ability to walk.

Conclusions: The single ankle-worn AM-p can determine "stationary" behavior with excellent accuracy and "locomotion" behavior with moderate to good accuracy in children who use a manual wheelchair in daily living. Our findings can assist PPTs to assess physical behavior correctly and tailor individual treatment plans.

Purpose: A disparity exists in the access and use of assistive technology (AT), with women exhibiting lower rates of access compared to men, despite a higher reported prevalence of disability. To address these gendered inequities in AT, a comprehensive understanding of the influence of sex and gender on AT utilisation, access pathways, and associated perceptions is crucial.

Methods: This scoping review aimed to synthesise existing evidence concerning how sex and gender affect access, use, and attitudes towards AT. A systematic search across seven databases yielded 120 relevant publications.

Results: The identified gendered barriers and facilitators influencing AT engagement are discussed through the lens of the World Health Organization's 5 "P" framework of AT, encompassing policy, provision, product, personnel, and people. Notably, the reviewed studies predominantly operationalised gender within a binary male/female framework. Across seventy-three distinct analyses examining AT use and related factors, a significant association with gender and/or sex was observed. While findings indicated a higher rate of assistive product usage among women, this group also reported a greater degree of unmet need.

Conclusions: Gender-specific facilitators of AT use identified in the literature include tailored clinical counselling approaches, aesthetically considerate product design aligning with diverse gender expressions, gender-adapted training methodologies, and the adoption of patient-centric care models.Future research should consider the nuanced influence of sex and gender on user outcomes, and where data allow, these investigations should include other factors that interact with sex and gender to shape AT access, including age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, educational attainment, and citizenship status.

Purpose: This study explores the barriers, including psychological and emotional challenges, faced by college students with disabilities while engaging in video gaming. It also investigates the benefits of gaming, utilising Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to understand motivations and experiences. Furthermore, it provides insights into future development and accessibility measures to promote inclusive gaming environments.

Materials and methods: Guided by SDT, we designed the semi-structured interview guide and conducted a hybrid deductive-inductive reflexive thematic analysis that interpreted themes in terms of autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

Results: Three primary themes emerged: (a) Benefits, including social connection, stress relief, and skill development; (b) Barriers, such as physical, cognitive, and financial challenges, and limited accessibility in game design; and (c) Accessibility, emphasising customisable controls, adaptive features, and inclusive designs. Participants highlighted the positive role of gaming in fostering psychosocial well-being and managing symptoms of their disabilities.

Conclusion: This study provides insights into the intersection of gaming and disability, advocating for inclusive game design to enhance autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Findings demonstrate the potential of accessible gaming to promote empowerment, social inclusion, and mental health. Aligned with the goals of rehabilitation and assistive technology, this research offers actionable recommendations for reducing barriers and fostering innovation in game development to support individuals with disabilities.

The transition from inpatient rehabilitation to community living poses significant challenges for individuals with newly acquired disabilities. Peer navigators, individuals with lived experience, are trained to support this transition; however, accessing in-person services can be difficult. To facilitate remote peer support and ensure accessibility, we co-designed a mobile health (mHealth) app with four peer navigators with disabilities. Over the course of three co-design sessions, we developed personas and iteratively refined low- and high-fidelity prototypes. We then conducted a heuristic evaluation with 22 human-computer interaction students to identify usability flaws. Based on this evaluation and feedback from a follow-up focus group with three students, we implemented iterative improvements to enhance usability and interactivity. This paper discusses the design implications and lessons learned for designing mHealth tools in collaboration with people with disabilities.

Aim: To co-design an online tool to facilitate child-led goal setting in collaboration with children, caregivers, and allied health professionals. Method: We used a co-design approach informed by human-centred design principles. Children with disabilities or developmental delays (n = 7), their caregivers (n = 7), and allied health professionals (n = 13) participated in iterative technology co-design sessions to contribute their ideas and feedback. Qualitative inductive content analysis was used to categorise, synthesise, and interpret data.

Results: Participants identified 10 key design consideration themes that informed online tool development: Facilitating a multi-phase goal setting process, Visual without being distracting, Supporting children's autonomy and choice, Supporting children's motivation and engagement, Collaborative functions, Flexible with personalisation, Scaffolding and support, Quick and easy to navigate, Multiple accessibility features, and Other clinical implementation considerations. The co-design process produced an early version of the online tool, called MyGOALS4Kids.

Interpretation: MyGOALS4Kids aims to support children's active participation and autonomy in eliciting, constructing, addressing, and evaluating intervention goals. The co-design process ensured that multiple perspectives were integrated into design, enhancing the tool's potential relevance and applicability in child-led goal setting practices. The key design considerations can inform future child-led technology developments. Further research is needed to investigate usability of MyGOALS4Kids in clinical settings.

Objective: People with physical disabilities can use electronic assistive technologies in their homes to increase their independence. These technologies range from disability specific environmental controls systems to mainstream smart home technologies and combinations of both. The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of persons with physical disabilities on their experiences using these technologies in their homes to inform future best practice.

Methods: This qualitative descriptive study used a World Café method underpinned by appreciative inquiry. Nine participants with spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy or acquired brain injury participated in four World Café discussions. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse verbatim transcriptions.

Results: Five themes were identified: "Using Mainstream Technology", "Navigating Person-Technology Fit Amidst Change", "Making Technology Work in the Home", "Positive Impacts of Technology", and "Frustrations with Using Technology in the Home". These themes supported expected benefits and challenges. In addition, the opportunities provided by mainstream technology in terms of availability and affordability, funding frustrations and poor trust of suppliers were described. Making technology work required support as well as technological safeguards.

Impact: Mainstream technology has improved and broadened possibilities for electronic assistive technology use in the home, which can be complex. It provides psychosocial benefits, but is also frustrating. Furthermore, using technology is a dynamic evolving journey as individual users must navigate changes in search of best person-technology fit. Successful use of technology requires support, as well as backup systems and safeguards to combat poor reliability.

People without sensory impairments may find it challenging to communicate effectively with those who have hearing or visual impairments. Further, hearing-impaired and visually impaired people are not interested in maintaining interpersonal relationships with others due to the difficulty in communicating. As a result, considerable research has been conducted to find an innovative way that make the process of communication easier for them. To overcome the weaknesses and shortcomings of these studies, the authors introduce a unique application. Our application model focuses on developing a virtual instrument that recognises hand gestures, displays a corresponding message, and provides a voice message to assist people with hearing or visual impairments in communication. A flex sensor glove was used for hand gesture detection, and a virtual instrumentation system was developed using LabVIEW software. Ten volunteers with no previous disabilities were initially used to test the system. Seven gestures were selected for the initial evaluation, and each gesture was performed five times, completing a total of 350 trials. The selected seven hand gestures for the initial evaluation were successfully communicated through both audio and visual means by providing them in all three languages: Sinhala, Tamil, and English. Furthermore, our system achieved a gesture detection accuracy of 95.42%, with an average response time of less than 0.5 s per gesture. This system is highly beneficial for people with congenital or early-stage hearing loss and visually impaired people who are confined to beds due to illness.

Purpose: To explore the user experience of neuromuscular patients engaging with virtual reality.

Materials and methods: In this observational study, patients aged 16 and older, with a clinical and/or genetic diagnosis of neuromuscular disease, underwent a recreational VR experience. The virtual reality activity consisted of using Tripp^® application during hospitalisation using Oculus Quest 2^®. Subsequently, they completed a set of questionnaires assessing technology acceptance, cybersickness, and flow state, defined as the level of engagement during an activity.

Results: Fifty-nine patients reported low levels of cybersickness and high levels of flow state. A significant positive correlation was found between user experience and flow state, while no significant relationship was observed between technology acceptance and cybersickness.

Discussion: Overall, this research highlights the feasibility of virtual reality as an acceptable tool in the neuromuscular population providing insights into the technology's application in clinical settings.