Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
5.3.2 Activity
Activity involves all those daily tasks in which a person wants or needs
to engage. Often, these are conceptualized as self-care, productivity (work,
education, volunteer activities), and leisure [
6
]. When considering the selec-
tion of assistive technology, it is important to determine which activities a
person wants or needs to pursue, where these occur, and when they occur
(e.g., time of day, frequency of occurrence).
5.3.3 Context
Context refers to different aspects of the environment that affect the person,
the activities in which they engage, and their use of assistive technology.
The conceptualization of the context involves four elements: physical, social,
cultural, and institutional.
The physical environment includes both the natural and built environ-
ments as well as physical parameters (such as temperature and light) that
affect the function and integrity of the assistive technology.
The social element of the context refers to other people and their in-
teractions in the AT user's environment, and social conventions that affect
technology use. The social environment can be conceptualized as a series
of concentric rings representing increasingly distant relationships to the in-
dividual at the centre [
1
]. The first ring, the one closest to the individual,
consists of family and close friends. The farthest ring consists of individuals
or groups with whom the person has infrequent interaction, or whose actions
affect the life of the person indirectly. The environments in which a person
lives, works (or learns), plays and engages in community activities like shop-
ping also form the social context. Here, the expectations of others and their
attitudes and understanding of assistive technology affect whether it can be
used successfully.
The cultural environment includes all those attitudes, beliefs, values, and
practices that are shared by members of a broader group. Where a social
group includes individuals who interact with each other with some frequency,
a cultural group shares many values, but members may be geographically
distant and unknown to each other. Cultural values such as independence and
emphasis on physical abilities may discourage a person from using assistive
technology that is seen as drawing attention to the user's lack of independence
or physical skill.
Finally, the institutional element of the context refers to formal rules, pro-
cedures, policies, regulations, and legislation that affect daily life. Examples
include the policies and procedures required to obtain funding for an assistive
device or legislation related to accessibility of the physical environment and
services to individuals with a wide range of disabilities.
