Contribution of occupational therapy to the development, evaluation and implementation of innovative technologies

Introduction / Background: The occupational therapists (OT) pioneers supplied assistive technology (AT) to support their clients’ mobility and work. (Kinébanian & Van de Velde, 2012) AT was and is evidentially related to... [ view full abstract ]

Introduction / Background:
The occupational therapists (OT) pioneers supplied assistive technology (AT) to support their clients’ mobility and work. (Kinébanian & Van de Velde, 2012) AT was and is evidentially related to our profession. (Vlaskamp et al., 2011) Technology is fast-paced which creates new opportunities for professionals and clients to support their daily living.

Description of the proposed policy:
Counselling on technology use as a mean to enable participation is incorporated in the OT profiles. (WFOT, 2010) Meaning that the profession is good at providing information about different equipment to clients and their system, supporting the acquiring process and enabling its use.
However OT’s could also be involved in design processes, setting up information services for client groups, and implementation processes in different communities. We present our vision on how OT’s can enrich interdisciplinary groups at different stages from design to implementation on meso and macro level. The CMCE skills are very well applicable for this purpose. (Townsend & Polatajko, 2007)

Application of the policy to practice:
Illustrated by examples of AT, robotics, life-style and e-health we show the contribution and added value of the OT perspective. Enhancing the role of our profession to non-traditional interdisciplinary cooperation in the field of technology in care provides interesting opportunities but has some pitfalls as well.

Proposed evaluation:
Each project’s outcome and process are evaluated. A systematic evaluation regarding the contribution of OT is not carried out. But national and European policies in health care (education) do encourage us in this work.