International Training and Research on the Impact of Assistive Technologies for People with Disabilities in India
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| Abstract | ABSTRACT: A team of two graduate research students from the University of Pittsburgh conducted three research studies at the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC) in New Delhi, India. Two of the studies focused on the impact of assistive technology on quality of life for people with disabilities, and the wheelchair skills of users of different types of wheelchairs. These studies were part of an ongoing collaborative relationship between the University of Pittsburgh and ISIC, in the interest of improving the effectiveness of assistive technology (AT) provision in India. The first study involved the collection of the PART survey, which includes both objective and subjective measures of an individual’s quality of life. The PART was asked of recent recipients of new AT, and the study is ongoing, with scheduled follow-ups at 6, 12, and 18 months. The second study, which is complete, involved the use of the Wheelchair Skills Test to investigate the effect of wheelchair type on the mobility skills of individuals. Participants were first tested while they used hospital wheelchairs, and then again after they had received a prescribed wheelchair from ISIC’s AT department. After each test, participants were also asked the QUEST survey to assess their satisfaction with each type of wheelchair. The third study sought factors motivating the choice of driver cessation and unique characteristics shaping the market for vehicle modification and need for driver rehabilitation services. The impact of the research will be to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities by providing evidence to donors, providers and designers on which AT makes the most impact on the people who use it. ISIC’s goal is to become a world-class research institution, and so this host of the ISSICON conference benefits from collaboration with international universities and organizations. In turn, the University of Pittsburgh researchers were exposed to specific challenges of service provision at the host institution that would be difficult to understand from afar. They developed an understanding of Indian perceptions of disability and its place in the country’s overall socioeconomic conditions. |
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| Bio | Nahom Beyene received his BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2002. He received an M.S. in Engineering: Biomechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 2004, and is currently a first-year student in the Rehabilitation Science PhD program at the University of Pittsburgh. Mr. Beyene has over five years of work experience with the NASA-Johnson Space Center in exercise hardware design and development. In addition to providing engineering and human factors support, he led a NASA team with collaboration from academia to conduct a study on the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device, which simulated skeletal loading in zero gravity. Alexandra Jefferds received her Bachelor of Science in BioEngineering from the University of Pittsburgh. During her undergraduate term she worked on several research projects at the Human Engineering Research Laboratory. She collaborated on a project to research the long-term impacts of transfers on the upper extremities of manual wheelchair users with Dr. Alicia Koontz. More recently, she developed a web survey system to serve as a research tool for the collaborative development of a power wheelchair appropriate for India. Additionally, she continues to aid in the design of the Indian power wheelchair under Dr. Rory Cooper and Jon Pearlman as she pursues her master's degree in Rehabilitation Science and Technology from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Health and Rehabilitation Science. Jon Pearlman received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, his M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University with a focus in Biomechanics, and his PhD in Rehabilitation Science and Technology from the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Science. He currently works as a faculty researcher at the Human Engineering Research Laboratories. His research focus is on understanding and improving assistive technology transfer to developing nations. |
| Cite this work | Researchers should cite this work as follows: BEYENE NAHOM, JEFFERDS ALEXANDRA and PEARLMAN JON, "International Training and Research on the Impact of Assistive Technologies for People with Disabilities in India", Trip report presented at the NSF IREE 2008 Grantees Conference, May 2008, Washington, D.C. |
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