Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol
Department of Counseling, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
Published: April 2022
Purpose: Assistive technology users may encounter challenges and inequality in having an access to health information and care during the emergency or in a crisis time. This issue seems to be understudied in most developing countries. The aim of this study was to explore the challenges faced by Iranian people with disabilities faced during the COVID-19 pandemic as far as the use of assistive technology is concerned.
Method: A thematic analysis approach was employed to collect and analyse the data. We interviewed 10, 12 and 20 participants with physical, visual, and hearing disability, respectively during the pandemic between May to July 2020. A six-step thematic analysis method was used to identify categories and main themes.
Results: The results revealed that people with disability were faced with some challenges in accessing information or receiving it on time during the emergency time. The lack of clear information may increase uncertainty about providing, using or maintaining assistive products. With no clear information or instruction, increased fear of infection, as well as the lack of necessary infrastructure for using available online applications, people with a disability had to rely more on others and seemed to feel disempowered.
Conclusion: Assistive technology (AT) users may not receive enough care and attention during health crisis, nor may be included in crisis management programs. Actions to create preparedness plans to meet the needs of AT users in possible future crisis seem to be necessary.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONAssistive technology users' voice and needs should be given priority in crisis management programs.Web accessibility barriers and information accessibility challenges need more research attention in order to create effective and timely information dissemination programs.There seems to be a research gap about AT users during health crisis, and more research in this area is needed.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2022.2032414 | DOI Listing |
Wearable Technol
December 2024
Sensory Motor Systems Lab, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Cable-driven exosuits have the potential to support individuals with motor disabilities across the continuum of care. When supporting a limb with a cable, force sensors are often used to measure tension. However, force sensors add cost, complexity, and distal components.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGROUP ACM SIGCHI Int Conf Support Group Work
January 2025
College of Information Sciences and Technology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
Assistive technologies for people with visual impairments (PVI) have made significant advancements, particularly with the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time sensor technologies. However, current solutions often require PVI to switch between multiple apps and tools for tasks like image recognition, navigation, and obstacle detection, which can hinder a seamless and efficient user experience. In this paper, we present NaviGPT, a high-fidelity prototype that integrates LiDAR-based obstacle detection, vibration feedback, and large language model (LLM) responses to provide a comprehensive and real-time navigation aid for PVI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJMIR Rehabil Assist Technol
January 2025
Department of Health and Nursing Science, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway.
Background: Health care is shifting toward 5 proactive approaches: personalized, participatory, preventive, predictive, and precision-focused services (P5 medicine). This patient-centered care leverages technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI)-powered robots, which can personalize and enhance services for users with disabilities. These advancements are crucial given the World Health Organization's projection of a global shortage of up to 10 million health care workers by 2030.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLOS Digit Health
January 2025
Centre Référent Maladies Rares Neuromusculaires, Service de Médecine Physique et de Réadaptation Pédiatrique des Hospices Civils de Lyon - Hôpital Femme Mère Enfant, Bron, France.
Unlabelled: Among the 32 items of the Motor Function Measure scale, 3 concern the assessment of hand function on a paper-based support. Their characteristics make it possible to envisage the use of a tablet instead of the original paper-based support for their completion. This would then make it possible to automate the score to reduce intra- and inter-individual variability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Spinal Cord Med
January 2025
Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Context: Clinical Practice Guidelines from the Consortium for Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Medicine recommend daily self-screening of at-risk skin surfaces, but many Veterans with SCI describe challenges using the standard issue long-handled self-inspection mirror (LSIM).
Objective: The objective of this project was to compare the LSIM to a recently developed camera-based self-inspection system (CSIS). User feedback guided iterative engineering to improve and develop the new technology in preparation for transfer to industry.
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