Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1.3.5 globalization Model
Globalization models refer to the expansion of multinational and international compa-
nies into new markets in resource-limited environments to create new supply chains
for the delivery of technology solutions that may or may not be adapted to local needs.
Manufacturing in most globalization models is done in-country at a large scale. Solutions
can be designed in collaboration with international, national, and local designers. It has to
be noted that this model is mainly suited for the one-size-fits-all solutions, even when they
are adapted to local context and needs.
1.3.6 Universal Design Models
The universal design approach is based on the understanding that designing products to
match a mythical average of human abilities and conditions is in conflict with the fact that
all human users are diverse and experience different personal and environmental circum-
stances. Inaccessible mainstream products and services designed with a focus on a narrow
subset of human functioning, such as information and communication technologies (ICT),
medical equipment, and physical infrastructure can impose significant barriers on people
with disabilities and people who are aging. Universally designed public use products and
infrastructure are also necessary to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access
to all activities irrespective of the existence of AT because many times individuals cannot
use mainstream technologies that do not match their AT devices.
1.4 Assessing Individual Functioning Within a Rehabilitation Process
The international scientific literature presents a wide variety of rehabilitation models from
different authors. Some of these models—generally elaborated in the last decade—are con-
ceptually compatible with the universal approach to disability, the biopsychosocial model,
and the ICF. The assessment process as a full evaluation of functioning and disability of
an individual can be considered as an aspect of any rehabilitation process so that any reha-
bilitation model encompasses an assessment model also. For this reason, before presenting
the assistive technology assessment (ATA) process model of assessment, it might be useful
to explore the most relevant models of rehabilitation described in the international scien-
tific literature. Below some of the most important contributions to the conceptualization
of a rehabilitation process are briefly described with a special focus on, when possible, the
stage of the assessment.
Gracey and colleagues (2009) proposed a “Y-shaped” theoretical model in which to ground
a rehabilitation intervention. The starting point of the authors is to identify a biopsychoso-
cial approach to assessment, formulation, and rehabilitation after acquired brain damage.
The result is an original theoretical synthesis of existing work drawn from rehabilitation
and psychotherapy studies that is also helpful in clinical use. The process of adaptation and
reintegration in society is determined by overcoming the social, personal, and interpersonal
discrepancies—represented by the two branches of the Y—that often follow a traumatic
event. The Y-shaped model is so called because the progressive move toward a new aware-
ness and acceptance of existing health conditions is graphically represented by the conjunc-
tion of the two branches of the Y. The process of awareness and resolution of discrepancies
 
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