A model for an inclusive healthcare information system

Healthcare organisations such as hospitals communicate both public and personal information to citizens. Accessible websites are suited for public information, but personal information (e.g. medical appointment notices) is still sent out by ordinary post in the form of text on a paper. Sometimes a person has to ask repeatedly for accessible information and is forced to adapt to the information system, rather than the other way around. This paper presents a model for adapting information automatically to each individual’s preferences and a list of such preferences resulting from interviews with persons with disabilities. The model facilitates an innovative process where a healthcare organisation and citizens work together in four steps: 1) A person’s information preferences are stored in a database in the hospital’s improved information system and can be updated at any time. 2) When the caregiver sends out information, a notification module retrieves the personal preferences from the database and adapts the information. 3) The person receives individualised information. 4) Preferences stored by citizens, but not yet implemented, can be used for further development of the inclusive information system. A prototype web form was then developed and evaluated by people from disability and elderly organisations

The Useworthiness of Robots for People with Physical Disabilities

This thesis deals with robotics and the new possibilities it offers people with physical disabilities. I focus on the user and the use of the technology and, in particular, on what makes robotic aids worth using - useworthiness as distinguished from usability. User experience of the wheelchair-mounted Manus manipulator shows that robotic arms must meet technical requirements in terms of acceleration, speed, and pattern of movement. Easy horizontal and vertical adjustment of the end-effector is another requirement which must be met to enable a user to carry out the most common movements faster with less concentration. Experience of the useworthiness of robots was first obtained through the development of page-turning end-effectors for the RAID workstation. The principles of separating pages and the page-turning movements are analyzed and described in this thesis. End-effectors are essential to the functionality and useworthiness of robots. The performance requirements for the automatic grasping function for simplified robot use have been brought out through user trials. The thesis demonstrates that user trials with robots as assistive devices can result in new knowledge about both the use of the technology itself and the personal characteristics - needs, abilities, wishes, and dreams - of the user. Parts of the thesis have already been published or will be published in the form of articles and conference papers: - Robotics in rehabilitation. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engineering, vol. 3, no 1, pp. 77-83, March 1995. - The Manus Manipulator as a Tool for Rehabilitation. To be published in the Scandinavian Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine. - Technical results from Manus user trials. Proceedings of the sixth International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), pp. 136-141, Stanford, California, USA, July 1999. - Robot control methods and results from user trials on the RAID workstation. Proceedings of the fourth International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), pp. 97-101, Wilmington, Delaware, USA, June 1994. - RAID - A Robotic Workstation for the Disabled. Proceedings of the 2nd European Conference on the Advancement of Rehabilitation Technology (ECART 2), pp. 24.3, Stockholm, Sweden, May 1993

Iterative design of an audio-haptic drawing application

This paper presents the ongoing design and evaluation of an audio-haptic drawing program that allows visually impaired users to create and access graphical images. The application is developed in close collaboration with a user reference group of five blind/low vision school children. The objective of the application is twofold. It is used as a research vehicle to investigate user interaction techniques and do basic research on navigation strategies and help tools, including e.g. sound fields, shape creation tools and beacons with pulling forces in the context of drawing. In the progress of the development, the preferred features have been implemented as standard tools in the application. The final aim of the application in its current form is to aid school work in different subjects, and part of the application development is also to create tasks relevant in a school setting

Personligt lärande i grupp på nätet

UCLUs lunchseminarium den 8 oktober. Håkan Eftring, avdelningsföreståndare och studierektor på Certec, avd. för rehabiliteringsteknik, berättade om sina erfarenheter av institutionens storsatsning på nätburen distansutbildning alltsedan 1996

Design side by side

The starting point for most of what is written here is people with disabilities. Situations of great difficulty need to be highly prioritized, for their own sake and also because that which first appears to be “special” sooner or later comes to benefit s

Robot control methods and results from user trials on the RAID workstation

CERTEC intends to develop an autonomous grasping function, but first user requirements have to be studied. Therefore, user trials have been carried out on the RAID workstation (Robot to Assist the Integration of the Disabled) at the Rehabcentrum Lund-Orup in Höör, Sweden. This paper will describe the control methods used in these trials as well as the results of the trials