Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
occupational therapist, physician in physical medicine and rehabilitation, and psychologist)
and the direct involvement of user and his/her home environment in the AT matching process.
In the same study, the possibility is considered of a further reduction in abandonment
by using measurement tools of predisposition to AT such as the MPT. The importance of
the main role of the home and personal environment in the use of the matched technology
(aid/AT) and an outcome of a satisfactory experience with the AT has also been pointed
out by Pasqualotto et al. (2011).
The ATA process sets out the guidelines of the process assignation of an AT and calcu-
lates both the intervention of a multidisciplinary team by the involvement of the user and
his/her environment and the assistance services as well as recurrent follow-ups, strictly
related to the possibility of the need to reassess the used AT.
3.4 The MPT and the Assistive Technology Assessment Process
The MPT process allows the measurement and evaluation of the matching between user and
AT through the different measurement tools in the MPT package (SOTU, ATD PA, CSTPA,
ETPA, WTPA, and HCTPA). On the other hand, the ATA process is a system of organizing
the AT assignment within a center for technical aids and allows professionals to view and
manage step by step the articulation of the path that the user follows to achieve the optimal
match. In part, the MPT process coincides, or rather is to operate within, the ATA process
because both have as their objective the optimal matching of user and AT, except that the
MPT process is an assessment method and includes matching measures, whereas the ATA
process is a functioning process that guides an AT assignment. The ATA process may thus
accompany the successful development of a matching process through the MPT process.
The model underlying the MPT and the ATA process is the same, namely a “user-centered”
model that is based on a biopsychosocial model of disability (i.e., the ICF). However, the
outlook is different: The MPT process describes what should be measured, whereas the ATA
process indicates how a center for technical aid is set up in the management of matching
user and AT. Specifically, the ATA process provides information and guidelines regarding
the setting, the professionals to which the user must contact, the collection of information,
the center of technical aid management, the multidisciplinary team involved in the match-
ing process, etc. Within this structured and multidimensional setting, the MPT fits as a
model, an assessment tool, and an “outcome measure” of the match achieved. The MPT
model underlying the ATA process allows the use of a series of measures that provide a
person-centered approach able to identify the best AT that fits the user's needs. This goal can
be reached through a collaborative approach in which the user/client and the professional
of the multidisciplinary team cooperate during the evaluation processes. Within the ATA
process, the different items provided by the MPT can be effectively used by the multidis-
ciplinary team to determine the expectations of user/customer and define the aims (Initial
Worksheet and History of Support Use), carry out surveys on the technologies used, and
analyze in this way the related users' satisfaction (Survey of Technology Use—SOTU) and
carry out assessments of the AT user/customer's predisposition to use and aid/AT (Assistive
Technology Device Predisposition Assessment—ATD PA).
In this way, the ATA process is able to guide the work within a center for technical aid
and allow professionals to regularly monitor all of the factors that would promote the
user/customer's personal well-being through the best combination of their needs and the
