Search results for ‘Subject term:"physical disabilities"’ Sort:
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Wearable devices to support rehabilitation and social care
- Authors:
- DOUGHTY Kevin, APPLEBY Alistair
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Assistive Technologies, 10(1), 2016, pp.51-63.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Purpose: This paper provides a review of the use of wearable technologies that focuses on applications that tackle sensory and communication deficits, physical disabilities and alarm and activity monitoring. It is intended to promote the introduction of more wearable approaches to providing assistive technologies because of their benefits in utilisation and aesthetic appeal. Design/methodology/approach: The approach involves a comparison of different types of portable device in order to identify different groups that may be beneficial to different application areas. Recent advances are then considered for each area. Findings: The work demonstrates that the use of wearable AT device is increasing due to improvements in materials, battery power and connected intelligence such as smartphones. They will allow new devices to be introduced that are smaller, lighter and more usable. Originality/value: The paper's value lies in encouraging manufacturers and designers to use wearable approaches to solving some of the problems facing vulnerable people. (Edited publisher abstract)
A review of outcome measures in early childhood programs
- Authors:
- MANNAN Hasheem, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 3(4), December 2006, pp.219-228.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The authors undertook a review of measures available for assessing outcomes of early childhood services for children with disabilities and their families. With principles of family-centered practice mandating the inclusion of both family and child outcome measures in effective evaluation plans, the review examined measures with established psychometric properties for (a) documenting the effectiveness of partnerships with families, and (b) documenting the effectiveness of services and supports for families. Constructs and their associated measures related to partnerships include satisfaction with the overall program and empowerment. The constructs for outcomes of supports and services include social support, parenting, and family quality of life. The authors reviewed measures for each of the five constructs. They note that the selection of appropriate measures to assess the outcomes of family support and services depends on the specific configuration of support services provided by the program and that each program may have to be explicit about the outcomes it wants to impact and therefore measure.
Defining and assessing quality of life
- Author:
- MAYERS Christine A.
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 58(4), April 1995, pp.146-150.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This article is a literature review, undertaken to have a fuller understanding of what is meant by the term 'quality of life' and how it is measured or assessed. The literature review shows that the term is not clearly defined. It is suggested that occupational therapists each have their own definition and may use the term too narrowly: a satisfactory quality of life means something different to all of us, whether we be occupational therapists or client. Suggests that it is more useful to find out what definitions a client gives to their quality of life when discussing the subject rather than trying to measure aspects of it by definitions of professionals.