Standardizing the Procedures, Improving our Listening to the Needs of the Individual User

Background: Knowing which elements could guide the development of policies, systems, and service delivery procedures is essential to develop an assistive technology (AT) provision standard, to connect services and outcomes, and compare data for AT in Europe and across the world. As stated by the GREAT conference in Geneva (Global Research, Innovation and Education in Assistive Technology) held in August 2017 as part of the World Health Organization’s GATE initiative, identifying what constitute the international framework for the provision of AT worldwide is an urgent WHO task (de Witte et al., 2018). Method: Developed in the light of the Matching Person and Technology (MPT) model (Scherer, 1998), an ideal model of AT assessment process that gathers the most recent scientific developments in AT assessment and provision is here presented, as it is described in the popular text, Assistive Technology Assessment Handbook, 2nd Edition (Federici & Scherer, 2018). The Matching Person and Technology Model and accompanying assessments have been found to have very good psychometric properties and have been validated by a number of studies. They have been translated into eight languages. Several derivative measures have been developed. In this presentation, we will outline how the AT assessment process can be applied in practice to re-conceptualize the phases of an AT delivery system according to the ICF’s biopsychosocial model of disability. The model provides reference guidelines for evidence-based practice, guiding both public and private centers that wish to compare, evaluate, and improve their ability to match a person with the correct technology model. The present contribution to this special thematic session can foster discussion among health practitioners and technology providers (occupational therapists, physiotherapists, rehabilitation engineers, speech-language pathologists), as well as undergraduate and graduate students in these areas. Key results: Successful assistive technology service delivery outcomes highlighted well the effectiveness of the ideal model, here presented, of AT assessment and delivery process, as demonstrated in several studies (Federici et al., 2015). The environmental assessment procedure brings clarity to measures of accessibility, universal design, and sustainability, and captures well the three perspectives on the interaction between the person and AT in the user’s environments. Conclusion: This model can be used by professionals to check the functioning and to (re-)conceptualize the phases of an AT delivery system according to: (i) the ICF’s biopsychosocial model of disability; (ii) the seven steps mentioned by the AAATE as relevant and adequate for any service delivery process; and (iii) the MPT model that ensures that the provision is person-centered and not product of service-centered. This model of service delivery, therefore, intends to express, in an idealized and essential form, an assessment process where persons and their environment are at the core of process, products, personnel, and provision.