The extended impact of co-designed personalised aids for people living with chronic conditions: an exploratory study in a healthcare setting.

Assistive technology has great potential to help individuals living with chronic health conditions, however devices often fail to align with the unique requirements of users. These results in device abandonment and missed opportunities to benefit people. This exploratory study aims to evaluate the short and longer-term satisfaction, psychological benefit, use and resources involved in co-designed customised assistive devices within a current healthcare service.

Can a previously co-designed device be used by others? A service evaluation of the use of the Sativex spray holder for individuals with multiple sclerosis.

Purpose: Co-design has previously been used to design custom assistive devices, involving the end user in the process to ensure the device meets their needs. From devices previously created, designs could be re-used and modified to meet variations in the needs of other individuals with similar clinical needs. This service evaluation explored the re-usability of a holder for helping administer the spray medication Sativex, for individuals with multiple sclerosis.

Assessing the use of co-design to produce bespoke assistive technology solutions within a current healthcare service: a service evaluation.

Purpose: Co-design involves engaging with the end-user in the design process and may help reduce the barriers to assistive technology use. Previous research has used co-design in the provision of assistive technology, but no research has looked at applying it within a healthcare setting. This service evaluation examines the use of co-design in providing customized assistive devices within a current UK healthcare based Rehabilitation Engineering department.

Exploring the barriers to using assistive technology for individuals with chronic conditions: a meta-synthesis review.

Purpose: Assistive technology can provide a key tool to enabling independence, greater inclusion and participation in society for individuals with chronic conditions. This potential is currently not always realized due to barriers to accessing and using assistive technology. This review aims to identify the common barriers to acquiring and using assistive technology for users with chronic conditions through a systematic meta-synthesis.

Evaluating additive manufacturing for the production of custom head supports: A comparison against a commercial head support under static loading conditions.

The provision of wheelchair seating accessories, such as head supports, is often limited to the use of commercial products. Additive manufacturing has the potential to produce custom seating components, but there are very few examples of published work. This article reports a method of utilising 3D scanning, computer-aided design and additive manufacturing for the fabrication of a custom head support for a wheelchair.

The effect of seat shape on the risk of pressure ulcers using discomfort and interface pressure measurements.

Background: It is clinically known that shape is important when selecting or designing a wheelchair support surface for the prevention of pressure ulcers (a £ 2 billion annual cost to the National Health Service, UK); however, the effect of different levels of shape contouring has not been adequately studied.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of seat shape on the risk of pressure ulcers using discomfort and interface pressure measurements.

Study Design: Randomised, repeated trial.