Affiliations: Occupational & Industrial Orthopaedic Center
(OIOC), Hospital for Joint Diseases Orthopaedic Institute, New York University
Medical Center, New York, NY 10014, USA | Harvard University, Graduate School of Education,
Technology in Education, Cambridge, MA, USA | Tel-Aviv University, Sackler School of Medicine,
Department of Occupational Therapy, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Note: [] OIOC, 63 Downing Street, New York, NY 10014, USA. Tel.: +1 212
255 6690; Fax: +1 212 255 6754; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: This paper describes a structural sequential process aimed to
enhance the quality of life of a 29 year old man through the application of
assistive technology (AT). The client had life-long severe multiple
disabilities, showed increasing fragility and decreasing functional abilities
that resulted, among other problems, in a problem with toileting. The process
involved a thorough assessment and evaluation of the client, his physical,
cognitive and perceptual skills involved in the performance of the task,
requirements of the task, the technology, and the task environment. A clinical
reasoning model for the provision of AT was applied during the process to
identify the functional deficits of the client with respect to the problematic
task. The approach enabled a multidisciplinary team of university-affiliated
professionals including physical and occupational therapists, an ergonomist, a
rehabilitation engineer and care providers in an institution for
developmentally disabled people to determine the primary attributes of a
technological intervention. The process resulted in the selection of an
appropriate piece of AT followed by its modification and adaptation in order to
address the specific needs of the client. The client's toilet use was improved
in a manner that ultimately contributed to enhancing the quality of his life.
Projections for further improvements of the quality of life of the client in
this institution were also discussed.
