Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
contribution to the study of the representations that psychologists and other professionals
endorse of disabled people and AT.
As Meloni, Federici, and Stella demonstrated in a recent study (2011), and as is reported
and discussed in Sections 8.1-8.3, the international scientific literature pays very little
attention to the role and skills of the psychologist in the field of rehabilitation and, in par-
ticular, in the process of matching people with AT. One of the likely causes of this neglect
could be that the real novelty of the biopsychosocial model, constituted by the presence of
the prefix “psycho” between “bio” and “social,” has been largely disregarded through the
noncoding of personal factors in the ICF. The psychologist in a center for technical aid is,
first and foremost, an expert on personal factors because the predispositions and reactions
of people to using AT are highly personal and individual. Only the psychologist has the
appropriate curriculum and expertise to investigate personal factors, to identify which
ones are critical in allowing or hindering the matching of person and technology, and to
promote adaptive changes on the human side of the person-environment polarity. More
specifically, the competencies of the psychologist are involved in some crucial phases of
the ideal model of the ATA process: (1) accepting and evaluating the user's request, (2) pro-
moting the assistive solution, and (3) providing support and follow-up.
In Section 8.6, Mazzeschi highlighted the psychologist's main professional goals in a
center for technical aid, which we can summarize as follows: (1) to advocate the user's
request in the user-driven process,
through which the selection of one or more technologi-
cal aids for an assistive solution is made; (2) to act as a mediator between users seeking
solutions and the multidisciplinary team of a center for technical aid; (3) to facilitate team-
building among the members of the multidisciplinary team; and finally (4) to reframe the
relationship between the client and his or her family or caregivers within the framework
of the new challenges, limitations, and restrictions that they are faced with. To achieve
these goals, the psychologist should be an expert in handling the main diagnostic and
assessment tools and in using his or her relationship with the user/client to promote
personal awareness, growth, and the development of human potential and to maximize
empowerment.
In the last section, Cordella, Greco, and Grasso developed another important point in
outlining the psychologist's role in a center for technical aid that concerns the represen-
tations that the psychologist and other multidisciplinary team members endorse of dis-
ability and the functions of AT. The quality of life and well-being of a disabled person
depend largely on the ability of professionals, relatives, and caregivers to imagine a range
of existential alternatives and not to nail the prevailing social stereotypes and cultural
prejudices onto the disabled person. For this reason, the psychologist should be engaged
in promoting (both in the multidisciplinary team and in the broader sociocultural context)
the diffusion of a complex, multidimensional, universal, and holistic approach to disabled
people that is firmly founded on the biopsychosocial model of disability.
In conclusion, we have noted the need for a change in attitude and practice in relation to
the role of the clinical psychologist in the ATA process, spurred on by the recent advance
of the biopsychosocial model in the social and scientific communities, the integration of
objective and subjective measures into the diagnostic process, the recognized relevance
of contextual factors and, in particular, the personal factors affecting the long-term success
of AT matching, and the increasing interest in the “imbalance of power” in the relationship
between professionals and users. We are convinced that a revision of the ICF is urgently
needed to develop those personal factors that can make a substantial difference during the
rehabilitation process and, in particular, during the ATA process.
