Haarman, Juliet A.M.

Hover, Quirien R.M.

Karahanoglu, Armagan

Nizamis, Kostas

Objective: By designing interactive activities of daily living (ADL)-based smart objects for home hand rehabilitation for people with stroke, our objective is to provide a better understanding of how daily activities and objects can facilitate rehabilitation. This way we can bypass the need for intrinsic motivation and offer functional hand exercises at home, that are seamlessly integrated into ADL. Design: We applied a pilot study following a research-through-design approach combined with a user-centred design to evaluate a handle used as add on to cooking utensils. Setting: We applied this research within a focus group setting within a rehabilitation centre. Participants: Two adult people with stroke (male, aged over 40) participated. They both had a mildly impaired hand function due to stroke. Interventions: Not applicable Main Outcome Measures: Both participants interacted with the prototype handle and experienced via a “wizard of Oz” approach some of the future features of the prototype. Additionally, they were asked to evaluate the usability of the idea of using daily objects as means for rehabilitation at home and expressed their opinion about the future features of such devices. Results: Both participants recognised the value of daily objects for home stroke hand rehabilitation. They mentioned that they would prefer objects that promote bi-manual activities (or a multitude of activities via a modular design) and the importance of monitoring their progress and even adding elements of competition between participants. Conclusions: This pilot test showed that our idea for seamless home rehabilitation with the use of smart daily objects is promising. In this work, we will present the results of the follow-up studies that we carried out with more people with stroke, after implementing the suggestions of the participants. Key Words: Stroke, hand, home rehabilitation, smart objects, activities of daily livin

Smart daily-used objects for hand rehabilitation after stroke

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