The purpose of this thesis was to utilize existing technologies to create a development environment suitable for creating context-aware applications and systems specific to home and family living conditions. After outlining the history of context-aware applications and the challenges that face family-centric systems in this field, a development environment was implemented that solves the unique challenges that face application development for family-centric, context-aware applications. In particular, research cited in this document indicates that a browser-based user interface is the most appropriate interface for a family environment. The flexibility of the interface, as well as the familiarity of the application structure allows family members of varying levels of comprehension to use a given application. The use of a browser interface for a context-aware system creates unique challenges such as the ability to integrate with external applications and external devices. In addition to overcoming the restrictions of web browsers, the development environment was designed to support the unique user environment presented by a family structure. This includes mechanisms for the long-term adaptability of the system to the changing lifestyles of the family members, as well as the infrequent, but necessary ability to adjust the structure of the family unit due to the addition or prolonged absence of family members. Another problem that the development environment was required to solve was the varying levels of computer comprehension that exist among different family members. An application that targets an entire family unit must meet the usability needs of all levels of comprehension. The development environment was created to account for this wide array of usability requirements. The resulting development environment was implemented on a Windows XP Professional environment, utilizing existing technologies and software that were mostly cross-browser compatible. Although a new technology was not designed and created, existing technologies were combined to solve the aforementioned problems that are unique to developing systems and applications for a family-centric, context-aware environment. Recommendations are made for future research and development in the area of family-assistive application development.

Navigation can prove a real challenge for a person suffering from dementia, even in well known environments. In order to relieve some of this burden, companies around the world are developing assistive technologies. However, getting accustomed to such technologies could still be challenging since people with dementia often perceive new technologies as difficult to use. Among the new technologies though, Augmented Reality (AR) technology has been reported as both intuitive and easily adopted. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how this particular technology could be implemented, i.e. how the AR interface could be designed, in a mobile navigation application so people with mild dementia can use the application without assistance. This qualitative study is based on a pilot study followed by two usability tests, where people diagnosed with mild dementia tested a mobile navigation application and a navigation mockup, both implementing augmented reality technology but with two different interface designs: i) one included an animated figure and ii) one used arrows with a filter that could be turned on or off. Five persons participated in each usability test. The collected interview and observational data was analyzed using a phenomenological hermeneutical method. Overall the participants found the suggested AR technology to be usable while navigating. The results also showed that the respondents were rather neutral to which of the two AR interfaces were used. The majority expressed that it was easier to navigate with the navigation mockup when the filter was off. Finally, the study presents five design implication suggestions to be considered while developing this type of assistive technologies for people with mild dementia. The AR interface should: use an unfiltered camera view, be intuitive, be adapted to outdoor conditions, not prevent the user from focusing on the surrounding environment, be precise and trustworthy. / Navigering kan innebära en stor utmaning för personer som lider av en demenssjukdom, även i för dem bekanta miljöer. Företag runtom i världen utvecklar idag assisterande hjälpmedel för denna målgrupp. Men att ta hjälp av och bli bekväm med att använda den här typen av teknologier kan fortfarande upplevas som problematiskt, då personer med demens vanligen kan uppleva ny teknologi som svår att använda. Bland dessa nya teknologier finns dock en teknologi som har skrivits om som både intuitiv och lätt att ta till sig, nämligen Augmented Reality (AR). Därför ämnar denna studie att undersöka hur denna specifika teknologi skulle kunna implementeras, med andra ord, hur ett AR-gränssnitt skulle kunna designas för en mobilnavigeringsapplikation så att personer med mild demens kan använda den självständigt. Denna kvalitativa studie baseras på en pilotstudie följt av två användbarhetstester, där personer som diagnostiserats med mild demens fått testa en navigeringsapplikation och en navigationsmockup för smartphone. Båda implementerar AR-teknik men med två olika gränssnittsdesigner: i) en som innehåller en animerad figur och ii) en som använder pilar samt ett filter som kan sättas på och av. Fem personer deltog i varje användbarhetstest. Den insamlade datan från intervjuerna och observationerna analyserades sedan med hjälp av en fenomenologisk–hermeneutisk metod. Överlag så tyckte deltagarna att AR-tekniken var användbar vid navigeringen. Resultatet visade också att respondenterna var relativt neutrala till vilken av AR-gränssnitten som användes. Majoriteten uttryckte att det var enklare att navigera med navigationsmockupen när filtret var av. Slutligen så presenterar denna studie fem designimplikationsförslag att ha med sig vid utvecklandet av den här typen av assisterande tekniska hjälpmedel för personer med mild demens. AR-gränssnittet bör: använda en ofiltrerad kameravy, vara intuitivt, vara anpassat till utomhusmiljöer, inte hindra användaren från att fokusera på omgivningen, vara precist och trovärdigt.

When Thomas Edison applied for a patent for his phonograph, he listed the talking books for the blind as one of the benefits of his invention. Edison was correct in his claim about talking books or audio books. Audio books have immensely helped the blind to achieve their academic and professional goals. Blind and visually impaired people have also been using audio books for pleasure reading. But several studies have demonstrated the benefits of audio books for people who are not defined as disabled. Many nondisabled people listen to audio books and take advantage of speech based technology, such as text-to-speech programs, in their daily activities. Speech-based technology, however, has remained on the margins of the academic environments, where hegemony of the sense of vision is palpable. Dominance of the sense of sight can be seen in school curricula, class rooms, libraries, academic conferences, books and journals, and virtually everywhere else. This dissertation analyzes the reason behind such an apathy towards technology based on speech. Jacques Derrida's concept of 'metaphysics of presence' helps us understand the arbitrary privileging of one side of a binary at the expense of the other side. I demonstrate in this dissertation that both, the 'disabled' and technology used by them, are on the less privileged side of the binary formation they are part of. I use Derrida's method of 'deconstruction' to deconstruct the binaries of 'assistive' and 'main stream technology' on one hand, and that of the 'disabled' and 'nondisabled' on the other. Donna Haraway and Katherine Hayles present an alternative reading of body to conceive of a post-gendered posthuman identity, I borrow from their work on cyborgism and iii posthumanism to conceive of a technology driven post-disabled world. Cyberspace is a good and tested example of an identity without body and a space without disability. The opposition between mainstream and speech-based assistive technology can be deconstructed with the example of what Walter Ong calls 'secondary orality.' Both disabled and non-disabled use the speech-based technology in their daily activities. Sighted people are increasingly listening to audio books and podcasts. Secondary Orality is also manifest on their GPS devices. Thus, Secondary Orality is a common element in assistive and mainstream technologies, hitherto segregated by designers. The way Derrida uses the concept of 'incest' to deconstruct binary opposition between Nature and Culture, I employ 'secondary orality' as a deconstructing tool in the context of mainstream and assistive technology. Mainstream electronic devices, smart phones, mp3 players, computers, for instance, can now be controlled with speech and they also can read the screen aloud. With Siri assistant, the new application on iPhone that allows the device to be controlled with speech, we seem to be very close to "the age of talking computers" that William Crossman foretells. As a result of such a progress in speech technology, I argue, we don't need the concept of speech based assistive technology any more.

It is often the case that emergency first responders are well equipped and trained to deal with a situation that involves evacuation of someone with a physical disability. However, emergency responders are not always the first line of defense, or they may be otherwise occupied with assisting others. This research examined the effects of instructions for emergency stair travel devices on untrained or novice users. It was hypothesized that through redesign of the evacuation instructions, untrained individuals would be able to successfully prepare an evacuation chair and secure someone with a disability more effectively and efficiently. A prepost study design was used with an instructional redesign occurring as the manipulation between phases. There was an improved subjective understanding and improved performance metrics, such as reduced time on task and a reduction of the number of instructional glances, across three evacuation chairs when using the redesigned instruction sets. The study demonstrated that visual instruction style can account for a significant portion of explained variance in the operation of emergency stair travel devices. It also showed that improvements in instruction style can reduce time on task across device type and age group. The study failed to demonstrate that there was a performance decrement for older adults in comparison to younger adults because of the cognitive slowing of older adult information processing abilities. Results from this study can be used to support future iterations of the Emergency Stair Travel Device Standard (RESNA ED-1) to ensure that instructional design is standardized and optimized for the best performance possible.

Because communication has always been difficult for people who are deaf-blind, The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (SKERI), in conjunction with the California Polytechnic State University Mechanical Engineering department, has commissioned the design, construction, testing, and programming of a robotic hand capable of performing basic fingerspelling to help bridge the communication gap. The hand parts were modeled using SolidWorks and fabricated using an Objet rapid prototyper. Its fingers are actuated by 11 Maxon motors, and its wrist is actuated by 2 Hitec servo motors. The motors are controlled by Texas Instruments L293D motor driver chips, ATtiny2313 slave microcontroller chips programmed to act as motor controllers, and a master ATmega644p microcontroller. The master controller communicates with a computer over a USB cable to receive sentences typed by a sighted user. The master controller then translates each letter into its corresponding hand gesture in the American Manual Alphabet and instructs each motor controller to move each finger joint into the proper position.

BACKGROUND: The Emergency Department is a quick-moving environment in which rapid identification of illness and prompt treatment is the mainstay of care. Obtaining informed consent from a patient for a high-risk or invasive procedure is required both legally and ethically regardless of the setting. However, informed consent in the Emergency Department is routinely inadequate. LITERATURE REVIEW: Research thus far has identified several of the barriers to obtaining proper informed consent; a few including language barriers, gaps in intellectual levels, fragmented care of different emergency providers, vulnerability of patients in the ED, and the complexity of the informed consent forms. Investigation into improving the informed consent discussion and patient comprehension has shown promise in implementing patient centered modalities that aid in communication. Such modalities include repeat-back mechanisms, easy-read documents, and implemented multimedia presentations. PROPOSED PROJECT: In this proposed study, we will focus on a pre-intervention (control) group and an intervention group. The intervention to be implemented will be a paracentesis informed consent video and a provider checklist including procedure, diagnosis/intervention, risks, benefits, and alternatives all to be checked off after being discussed with and repeated back by the patient. Patient understanding will be analyzed using a post-discussion questionnaire completed by all participants. We hypothesize that this intervention will improve overall comprehension of the informed consent discussion regarding the paracentesis procedure. CONCLUSION: Patient comprehension of the informed consent discussion in the Emergency Department is often lacking in meeting both legal and ethical standards. Reviewing the data for a significant change between the control and intervention group will allow us to determine if enhancing the informed consent discussion to a more patient-centered process will improve patient understanding of all aspects of the informed consent discussion. In the end, this will guarantee ED patients their lawful right to truly informed consent. SIGNIFICANCE: This informed consent video and checklist will allow for an informed consent process that remains standardized but is more patient focused to improve patient comprehension of the process and protect the rights of all parties involved.

INTRODUCTION: Device discontinuance is a widespread problem with assistive technology (AT) and durable medical equipment (DME), affecting approximately one third of people with disabilities who successfully acquire equipment. Consumers’ dissatisfaction with service and device-related factors can directly lead to AT device non-use. Roger’s Diffusion of Innovation Theory provides a foundation for understanding how to address device discontinuance, potentially through follow-up services. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this doctoral capstone is to discuss the piloting and feasibility of using follow-up outcome measures in an outpatient occupational therapy rehabilitation setting in order to identify and address challenges with equipment discontinuance. METHODS: A sample of 69 clients receiving equipment recommendations from a specialty AT clinic were contacted. The COPM, ATUFS, and QUEST 2.0 were piloted to measure device use and satisfaction. The feasibility of using these measures within a follow-up protocol for this outpatient practice was then evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 63% of the sample (N=69) was successfully contacted. The site-specific protocol successfully determined whether these clients had acquired and used their devices, subsequently allowing AT practitioners to provide additional supports for clients who had experienced discontinuance or non-acquisition. CONCLUSION: Using standardized outcome measures to follow-up with clients in this setting was deemed not feasible secondary to time constraints and difficulty contacting clients. Recommendations for improving follow-up with and without use of standardized measures is discussed. Follow-up encouraged clients to schedule additional appointments, utilize recommended funding resources, or seek out referrals.

No description available.

Assistive technology (AT) is defined as “any item, piece of equipment or product system whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities” (Assistive Technology Act amendments, 2004). The field of AT and AT services is dynamic and supported by multiple professions, and may be delivered in a variety of settings and contexts (Cook & Polgar, 2015). While this shared stake in the field of AT provides a variety of unique perspectives, it creates a challenge for uniformity when delivering and measuring the effectiveness and impact of services. This project titled, Outcomes of Assistive Technology Services in a Community Based Organization, will seek to develop a comprehensive service delivery and outcome measurement system that is grounded in theory and informed by the evidence. Several theoretical frameworks, including Model of Human Occupation (Kielhofner, 2009), the Person Environment Occupation model (Law, Cooper, Strong, Stewart, Rigby, & Letts, 1996), the Human, Activity, Assistive Technology Model (Cook & Polgar, 2015), and the Adult Learning Theory (Knowles, Holton and Swanson, 1998) are used as a basis for structuring the program. Although the available evidence for AT interventions and services is limited, the literature was comprehensively searched and the best evidence was selected to inform the designing of this program. Best practices were identified for assessment, intervention, and outcomes measurement. Strategies for staff development are identified, and a plan for funding, implementing and disseminating project findings is outlined.

I Sverige finns det ett lagstadgat krav som kräver att offentliga aktörers webbplatser måste uppfylla särskilda krav som rör digital tillgänglighet. Att digitala dagstidningar inte omfattas av lagen, och inte är tvingade till att leva upp till kraven, kan vara en orsak till att flera undersökningar visar på att dyslektiker inte läser dagstidningar på internet i samma utsträckning som befolkningen utan något funktionshinder.     Målet med studien är att undersöka hur en individs läs- och skrivsvårigheter påverkar hur de går till väga för att söka och konsumera digitala nyheter.     Då dyslexi ser olika ut hos olika individer var förväntningen att erfarenheterna av att använda digitala dagstidningar också skulle skilja sig åt. Av den anledningen har totalt sju kvalitativa intervjuer utförts för att få en tydlig bild av deltagarnas olika svårigheter och lösningar. Deltagarnas erfarenheter har därefter sammanställts och analyserats i relation till tidigare forskning.    Resultatet från intervjuerna visar att en majoritet av deltagarna tyckte att det kan vara svårt att läsa nyheter online, och ansåg att hemsidans design var en bidragande faktor till deras svårigheter.  En stor variation av olika textstorlekar, färger och bilder på hemsidan påverkade deras läsförmåga negativt, då de fick svårare att fokusera på texten. Det var ett störande moment när en artikel skulle läsas, men upplevdes som ett mycket större problem när en nyhet söktes på hemsidan. Strategin för att lösa detta problem var densamma för alla dessa individer, samtliga använde en sökmotor som Google för att söka efter en nyhet framför att söka efter den direkt på dagstidningens hemsida. Utöver detta framgår det att ingen av deltagarna använde några hjälpmedel för att underlätta användandet av digitala dagstidningar. / In Sweden, there is a statutory requirement that public actors’ websites must meet special requirements regarding digital accessibility. The fact that digital newspapers are not covered by the law and are not required to meet the requirements may be a reason why several studies show that dyslexics do not read newspapers on the Internet to the same extent as the population without any disabilities.    The aim of the study is to investigate how an individual’s reading and writing difficulties affect how they go about searching for and consuming digital news.     As dyslexia looks different in different individuals, it was expected that experiences of using digital newspapers would also differ. For this reason, a total of seven qualitative interviews were conducted to get a clear picture of the participants’ different difficulties and solutions. The participants’ experiences were then compiled and analyzed in relation to previous research.     The results of the interviews show that a majority of the participants found it difficult to read news online and considered that the website’s design was a contributing factor to their difficulties. A wide variety of different text sizes, colors and images on the website negatively affected their reading ability as they found it more difficult to focus on the text. This was a distraction when an article was to be read but was experienced as a much bigger problem when news was searched for on the website. The strategy for solving this problem was the same for all these individuals; all used a search engine like Google to search for news rather than searching for it directly on the newspaper’s website. In addition, none of the participants used any assistive technology to facilitate the use of digital newspapers.