Towards a Successful Match Between User and Assistive Technology: A Correlational Study on User’s Satisfaction, Perceived Effectiveness, and Psychosocial Impact of an Assistive Solution

Background: This work is an exploratory study to investigate the relation among three main psychosocial factors measured after an Assistive Technology (AT) system provision: (i) the user’s satisfaction, (ii) the perceived effectiveness, and (iii) the psychosocial impact of the assistive solution. The main objective is to understand whether the correlated psychosocial measures can predict a successful outcome of the AT assignation process. The study embraces the ICF’s biopsychosocial perspective of disability and the Matching Persons and Technology model by adopting the Assistive Technology Assessment (ATA) process, an ideal model for the effective outcome of AT assessing and provision (Federici & Scherer, 2018). Method: The study was conducted in an AT service delivery center by following the guidelines provided by the ATA model. Fifty-five subjects (72,7% males, min 4 – max 14 years old) participated in the study, which consisted of five main phases. Two preliminary phases focused on the analysis of participants needs with the aim to identify the best AT solution through a psychological counseling process and the administration of the Matching Assistive Technology & Child (MATCH; Federici et al., 2009). Then, the third phase of post-assignation focused on the outcome of the assistive solution assignation process measuring the user’s satisfaction and the perceived effectiveness, as well as the functional independence, well-being, and quality of life. The factors were assessed through (i) the Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with assistive Technology (QUEST; Demers et al., 2002), (ii) the Individually Prioritized Problem Assessment (IPPA; Wessels et al., 2002), and (iii) the Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale (PIADS; Jutai and Day, 2002). A final post-assessment phase consisted in providing the users with tailored training for the use of the assigned AT and in conducting interviews to caregivers (teachers and educators) and peers to investigate the impact of the AT solution in the users’ milieu. Key results: Findings after the AT system provision showed high levels of user’s satisfaction (Total QUEST M = 4.80; QUEST device M = 4.71; QUEST services M = 4.99), an increase in quality of life levels and a decrease of about 40% of the perceived difficulty of use. A highly significant positive correlation among the three questionnaires QUEST, IPPA, and PIADS was found (0.473 ≤ r ≤ 0.762; p ≤ 0.01). A significant linear relationship between the questionnaire scores and the abandonment rate shows that questionnaire scores can predict each other (0.224 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.581; p ≤ 0.01). Finally, the AT assessment outcome showed a 5.17% rate of abandonment. Conclusion: A positive relation among psychosocial factors of users’ satisfaction, perceived effectiveness, and the psychosocial impact of the assistive solution highlighted a statistical dependence among the three different metrics recommended by the ATA model for the post-assignation assessment process (QUEST, IPPA, and PIADS), also explaining the strength of each psychosocial factor on the AT assessment outcome in terms of abandonment of the assistive device. Future works will extend the age range and focus on designing a mathematical model for predicting the percent probability of AT getting abandoned by the user, immediately after the post-assignation assessment process.