The Effects of Mobility Devices on the Participation and Environments of People With Disabilities - the Consumer's Perspective
By Gray, D.B.; Morgan, K.; Walker, C.; Davinroy, J.; RESNA 26th International Annual Conference 2003,Publication Date: 2003
Paper proposes a research project that involves a community based disability organization called Paraquad in an assistive technology (AT) research study designed to provide information on how to improve AT use, fit, acquisition, and safety. Traditional measures of treatment effectiveness have focused on narrow bands of activities, while ignoring the role of AT. The standard of these assessments has only included a level of “normal” human function. For example, the Index of Activities of Daily Living was developed to assess performance on simple activities such as bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring from bed to chair, etc. Another frequently used measure, the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), assesses the level of independence in areas such as self-care, locomotion, communication, and social cognition. The premise in all of these evaluations is that the person-environment fit depends on the person’s abilities to master difficult environments and the demands of the environment. While FIM-style assessments do hold some promise, their items are limited and do not cover independence in employment settings and in community settings. A project that incorporates AT use in such settings is proposed and discussed.
Assistive Products Discussed: FIM SYSTEM
Published by: Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) (Website:http://www.resna.org)
