Assistive Technology Assessment Handbook

Assistive Technology Assessment Handbook, Second Edition, proposes an international ideal model for the assistive technology assessment process, outlining how this model can be applied in practice to re-conceptualize the phases of an assistive technology delivery system according to the 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. This second edition also offers a contribution to the Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology (GATE) initiative, whose activities are strongly focused on the assistive products service delivery model. Organized into three parts, the handbook: gives readers a toolkit for performing assessments; describes the roles of the assessment team members, among them the new profession of psychotechnologist; and reviews technologies for rehabilitation and independent living, including brain–computer interfaces, exoskeletons, and technologies for music therapy. Edited by Stefano Federici and Marcia J. Scherer, this cross-cultural handbook includes contributions from leading experts across five continents, offering a framework for future practice and research.

Stefano Federici is a professor in general psychology and psychology of disability at the University of Perugia, Italy. He has been a very active researcher in assistive technology for the disabled over the past 15 years and has published extensively in this area. In addition to the first edition, he has also published several additional reference works in the field.

Marcia Scherer is a rehabilitation psychologist and founding President of the Institute for Matching Person & Technology She is also Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Rochester Medical Center where she received both her Ph.D. and MPH degrees. She is a past member of the National Advisory Board on Medical Rehabilitation Research, National Institutes of Health, and is Editor of the journal Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology. Dr. Scherer is Fellow of the American Psychological Association, American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, and the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA). Dr. Scherer has authored, edited, or co-edited nine books and has published over seventy-five articles in peer-reviewed journals as well as thirty book chapters on disability and technology. Her research has been cited more than 4500 times by others.