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A Framework for a New Approach to Empower Users Through Low-Cost and Do-It-Yourself Assistive Technology

Background: Assistive Technology (AT) refers to “assistive products and related systems and services developed for people to maintain or improve functioning and thereby to promote well-being”. Improving the process of design and creation of assistive products is an important step towards strengtheni...

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Autores principales: Pousada García, Thais, Garabal-Barbeira, Jessica, Porto Trillo, Patricia, Vilar Figueira, Olalla, Novo Díaz, Cristina, Pereira Loureiro, Javier
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8001483/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33809518
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063039
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author Pousada García, Thais
Garabal-Barbeira, Jessica
Porto Trillo, Patricia
Vilar Figueira, Olalla
Novo Díaz, Cristina
Pereira Loureiro, Javier
author_facet Pousada García, Thais
Garabal-Barbeira, Jessica
Porto Trillo, Patricia
Vilar Figueira, Olalla
Novo Díaz, Cristina
Pereira Loureiro, Javier
author_sort Pousada García, Thais
collection PubMed
description Background: Assistive Technology (AT) refers to “assistive products and related systems and services developed for people to maintain or improve functioning and thereby to promote well-being”. Improving the process of design and creation of assistive products is an important step towards strengthening AT provision. Purpose: (1) to present a framework for designing and creating Low-Cost AT; (2) to display the preliminary results and evidence derived from applying the framework. Methodology: First, an evidence-based process was applied to develop and conceptualize the framework. Then, a pilot project to validate the framework was carried out. The sample was formed by 11 people with disabilities. The measure instruments were specific questionnaire, several forms of the Matching Person-Technology model, the Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Device Scale, and a tool to assess the usability and universal design of AT. Results: The framework integrates three phases: Identification (Design), Creation (Making the prototype), and Implementation (Outcome Measures), based on the principles of Design Thinking, and with a user-centered perspective. The preliminary results showed the coherence of the entire process and its applicability. The matching between person and device was high, representing the importance of involving the user in the design and selection of AT. Conclusions: The framework is a guide for professionals and users to apply a Low-Cost and Do-It-Yourself perspective to the provision of AT. It highlights the importance of monitoring the entire procedure and measuring the effects, by applying the outcome measures.
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spelling pubmed-80014832021-03-28 A Framework for a New Approach to Empower Users Through Low-Cost and Do-It-Yourself Assistive Technology Pousada García, Thais Garabal-Barbeira, Jessica Porto Trillo, Patricia Vilar Figueira, Olalla Novo Díaz, Cristina Pereira Loureiro, Javier Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Background: Assistive Technology (AT) refers to “assistive products and related systems and services developed for people to maintain or improve functioning and thereby to promote well-being”. Improving the process of design and creation of assistive products is an important step towards strengthening AT provision. Purpose: (1) to present a framework for designing and creating Low-Cost AT; (2) to display the preliminary results and evidence derived from applying the framework. Methodology: First, an evidence-based process was applied to develop and conceptualize the framework. Then, a pilot project to validate the framework was carried out. The sample was formed by 11 people with disabilities. The measure instruments were specific questionnaire, several forms of the Matching Person-Technology model, the Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Device Scale, and a tool to assess the usability and universal design of AT. Results: The framework integrates three phases: Identification (Design), Creation (Making the prototype), and Implementation (Outcome Measures), based on the principles of Design Thinking, and with a user-centered perspective. The preliminary results showed the coherence of the entire process and its applicability. The matching between person and device was high, representing the importance of involving the user in the design and selection of AT. Conclusions: The framework is a guide for professionals and users to apply a Low-Cost and Do-It-Yourself perspective to the provision of AT. It highlights the importance of monitoring the entire procedure and measuring the effects, by applying the outcome measures. MDPI 2021-03-16 /pmc/articles/PMC8001483/ /pubmed/33809518 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063039 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Pousada García, Thais
Garabal-Barbeira, Jessica
Porto Trillo, Patricia
Vilar Figueira, Olalla
Novo Díaz, Cristina
Pereira Loureiro, Javier
A Framework for a New Approach to Empower Users Through Low-Cost and Do-It-Yourself Assistive Technology
title A Framework for a New Approach to Empower Users Through Low-Cost and Do-It-Yourself Assistive Technology
title_full A Framework for a New Approach to Empower Users Through Low-Cost and Do-It-Yourself Assistive Technology
title_fullStr A Framework for a New Approach to Empower Users Through Low-Cost and Do-It-Yourself Assistive Technology
title_full_unstemmed A Framework for a New Approach to Empower Users Through Low-Cost and Do-It-Yourself Assistive Technology
title_short A Framework for a New Approach to Empower Users Through Low-Cost and Do-It-Yourself Assistive Technology
title_sort framework for a new approach to empower users through low-cost and do-it-yourself assistive technology
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8001483/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33809518
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063039
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