Big Data Analytics and Sensor-Enhanced Activity Management to Improve Effectiveness and Efficiency of Outpatient Medical Rehabilitation.

Numerous societal trends are compelling a transition from inpatient to outpatient venues of care for medical rehabilitation. While there are advantages to outpatient rehabilitation (e.g.

The Digital Health Revolution and People with Disabilities: Perspective from the United States.

This article serves as the introduction to this special issue on Mobile Health and Mobile Rehabilitation for People with Disabilities. Social, technological and policy trends are reviewed. Needs, opportunities and challenges for the emerging fields of mobile health (mHealth, aka eHealth) and mobile rehabilitation (mRehab) are discussed.

LiveWell RERC State of the Science Conference Report on ICT Access to Support Community Living, Health and Function for People with Disabilities.

This article summarizes the proceedings of the three session State of the Science (SOS) Conference that was conducted by the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Community Living, Health and Function (LiveWell RERC) in June 2019 in Toronto, Canada. RERCs customarily convene an SOS conference toward the end of their five-year funding cycle in order to assess the current state and identify potential future research, development, and knowledge translation efforts needed to advance their field. The first two sessions focused on the current and future state of information and communication technology (ICT) for mobile health (mHealth) and mobile rehabilitation (mRehab).

Clinician Perspectives on mRehab Interventions and Technologies for People with Disabilities in the United States: A National Survey.

Mobile health and mobile rehabilitation (mHealth and mRehab) services and technologies have attracted considerable interest from healthcare providers, technology vendors, rehabilitation engineers, investors and policy makers in recent years. Successful adoption and use of mHealth/mRehab requires clinician support and engagement, including the ability to identify appropriate use cases and possible barriers to use for themselves and their patients, and acquire adequate knowledge and confidence using mHealth/mRehab interventions. This article reports results from a survey of rehabilitation clinicians in the United States on their attitudes, experience, expectations and concerns regarding mHealth/mRehab interventions and technologies.

Effects of a caregiver-inclusive assistive technology intervention: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The principal aim of this study was to investigate whether a caregiver-inclusive assistive technology intervention improved older care recipients' functional autonomy and decreased the perceived burden of their family caregivers compared to customary care.

Methods: The study was a single-blind, mixed-methods, randomized controlled trial with baseline data collection and follow-ups at 6-, 22-, and 58-weeks after baseline evaluation, which was prospectively registered ( ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01640470.

Mobile Healthcare and People with Disabilities: Current State and Future Needs.

Significant health disparities exist between the general population and people with disabilities, particularly with respect to chronic health conditions. Mobile healthcare-the delivery of healthcare via mobile communication devices-is witnessing tremendous growth and has been touted as an important new approach for management of chronic health conditions. At present, little is known about the current state of mobile healthcare for people with disabilities.

How a diverse research ecosystem has generated new rehabilitation technologies: Review of NIDILRR's Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers.

Over 50 million United States citizens (1 in 6 people in the US) have a developmental, acquired, or degenerative disability. The average US citizen can expect to live 20% of his or her life with a disability. Rehabilitation technologies play a major role in improving the quality of life for people with a disability, yet widespread and highly challenging needs remain.

Effect of a tailored assistive technology intervention on older adults and their family caregiver: a pragmatic study protocol.

Background: Many older adults with mobility limitations use assistive technology to help them perform daily activities. However, little attention has been paid to the impact on their family caregivers. This neglect produces an incomplete portrayal of the outcomes of assistive technology provision.

Guidelines for Adult Stroke Rehabilitation and Recovery: A Guideline for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

Purpose: The aim of this guideline is to provide a synopsis of best clinical practices in the rehabilitative care of adults recovering from stroke.

Methods: Writing group members were nominated by the committee chair on the basis of their previous work in relevant topic areas and were approved by the American Heart Association (AHA) Stroke Council's Scientific Statement Oversight Committee and the AHA's Manuscript Oversight Committee. The panel reviewed relevant articles on adults using computerized searches of the medical literature through 2014.

Development and preliminary evaluation of the caregiver assistive technology outcome measure.

Introduction: Assistive technology is often recommended with the aim of increasing user independence and reducing the burden on informal caregivers. However, until now, there has been no tool to measure the outcomes of this process for caregivers.

Objectives: To describe the development of the Caregiver Assistive Technology Outcome Measure (CATOM), a tool developed to measure the impact of assistive technology interventions on the burden experienced by informal caregivers, and to undertake preliminary evaluation of its psychometric properties.

Effects of an assistive technology intervention on older adults with disabilities and their informal caregivers: an exploratory randomized controlled trial.

Objective: The aim of this study was to demonstrate experimentally that an assistive technology (AT) intervention improves older AT users' activity performance and satisfaction with activity performance and decreases their caregivers' sense of burden.

Design: This study was a delayed intervention, randomized control trial. Baseline data were collected on 44 community-dwelling AT user-caregiver dyads in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Montreal, Quebec.

How assistive technology use by individuals with disabilities impacts their caregivers: a systematic review of the research evidence.

Informal caregivers are a critical yet frequently unacknowledged part of the healthcare system. It is commonly presumed that providing assistive technology will decrease the burden of their care provision; however, no review has evaluated the evidence behind this assumption. Therefore, a systematic review was undertaken to evaluate evidence of the impact of assistive technology use by care recipients on their informal caregivers.

Using AAC technology to access the world.

This paper describes the monumental shift in the nature of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) access that has occurred over the past three decades. In its earliest days AAC technology was directed at enabling interpersonal face-to-face interactions mainly for persons with physical impairment. Contemporary AAC access attempts to mirror the access needs of a broader population.

Treatment theory, intervention specification, and treatment fidelity in assistive technology outcomes research.

Recent reports in the rehabilitation literature have suggested that treatment theory, intervention specification, and treatment fidelity have important implications for the design, results, and interpretation of outcomes research. At the same time, there has been relatively little discussion of how these concepts bear on the quality of assistive technology (AT) outcomes research. This article describes treatment theory, intervention specification, and treatment fidelity as interconnected facets of AT outcome studies that fundamentally affect the interpretation of their findings.

Development and evaluation of a new taxonomy of mobility-related assistive technology devices.

Objective: This article reports on the development of a new taxonomy for mobility-related assistive technology devices.

Design: A prototype taxonomy was created based on the extant literature. Five mobility device experts were engaged in a modified Delphi process to evaluate and refine the taxonomy.

Mobility-related assistive technology device classifications: implications for outcomes research.

This article evaluates six mobility-related device classifications for their ability to support assistive technology outcomes research. Our evaluation considered classifications that had been created for various purposes, including those created to support third-party reimbursement decisions, consumer education and safety, and research. Classifications were excluded if their scope was limited to a single mobility device domain.

AAC technology transfer: an AAC-RERC report.

Transferring innovative technologies from the university to the manufacturing sector can often be an elusive and problematic process. The Rehabilitation and Engineering Research Center on Communication Enhancement (AAC-RERC) has worked with the manufacturing community for the last 10 years. The purpose of this article is to discuss barriers to technology transfer, to outline some technology transfer strategies, and to illustrate these strategies with AAC-RERC related activities.

Development of a French-Canadian version of the Life-Space Assessment (LSA-F): content validity, reliability and applicability for power mobility device users.

Purpose: To examine the measurement properties of the French-Canadian version of the Life-Space Assessment questionnaire (LSA-F) for power mobility device (PMD) users.

Methods: Content validity, test-retest reliability of telephone interviews (2-week interval) and applicability were examined with PMD users presenting neurological, orthopedic or medically complex conditions. Translation/back-translation from English to French and cultural adaptation was performed and pretested with five bilingual users.

Tracking mobility-related assistive technology in an outcomes study.

The objective of this follow-up study was to describe changes in the mobility-related assistive technology devices (ATDs) that are used from shortly after discharge from a hospital setting until 5-6 months later. One hundred and thirty-nine participants who had one or more mobility ATDs (canes, crutches, walkers, and wheelchairs) that had been recommended during hospitalization were interviewed an average of 5.5 weeks after discharge and an average of 23.

Powered mobility for middle-aged and older adults: systematic review of outcomes and appraisal of published evidence.

Objective: To identify the outcomes of power mobility devices for middle-aged and older adult users, and to critically appraise the research evidence.

Design: Systematic review of primary source studies involving adults aged 50 and over using power mobility devices (1996-2007). Articles were (i) mapped to the Taxonomy of Assistive Technology Device Outcomes, which describes categories of impact of assistive devices from the vantages of effectiveness, social significance, and subjective well-being; and (ii) appraised using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation criteria.

Enhancing AAC connections with the world.

The availability of new technologies has changed how we control devices, exchange information, and communicate with others. Significant barriers, however, have prevented many individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) from accessing the technology and computer-based activities available in today's "Information Society." In this paper we discuss the benefits and challenges to increased interoperability between AAC and mainstream technologies.

Apolipoprotein E alleles and sensorineural hearing loss.

The purpose of this paper is to determine if a relationship exists between APOE alleles and nonsyndromic, sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in adults. APOE genotype was determined on DNA obtained from a sample of 89 subjects with nonsyndromic, adult onset SNHL. Median age was 64 years old, and 51 (57%) were males.

A framework for modelling the selection of assistive technology devices (ATDs).

Purpose: The previously published 'Framework for the conceptual modelling of assistive technology device (ATD) outcomes' assumes antecedent factors that inform it and influence its component variables. This paper proposes a model of factors influencing consumer predispositions and provider practices related to procuring a particular ATD, which is the starting point in the framework.

Methods: The relevant literature on a variety of factors that influence specific ATD selection is summarized.

Psychometric and administrative properties of measures used in assistive technology device outcomes research.

Although there have been numerous calls for increasing the quantity and quality of assistive technology outcomes research, no one has analyzed the nature of data that the field has been accumulating. This article summarizes our evaluation of 82 outcome studies, published between 1980 and 2001, addressing assistive technology devices (ATDs). Our data indicate that the "typical" ATD outcomes study published in the past 20 years is one that (a) used a sample population that was diverse in terms of age, disability population, and type of ATD being used; (b) measured user-reported dependent variables with instruments designed specifically for the study; (c) did not report adequate information on the reliability and validity for the measurement instruments that were used; (d) did not discuss the staff workload associated with learning, administering, and scoring its data collection tools; and (e) did not differentiate its findings in terms of distinguishable participant subgroups.