Effects of assistive technology-based occupational therapy on community-dwelling people recovering from stroke.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of assistive technology-based occupational therapy on occupational performance, satisfaction, and psychosocial impacts of community-dwelling people recovering from stroke.

METHODS

A total of eleven community-dwelling people recovering from stroke participated in an occupational therapy intervention based on the core concepts of the Human Activity Assistive Technology (HAAT) model. The intervention involved the adoption of assistive technology devices (ATDs) to perform individual goal activities in the daily lives of people recovering from stroke. The intervention was conducted weekly as a 30-min session for a total of 4 weeks, in the home where each participant actually resided.

RESULTS

All participants in the intervention showed statistically significant improvements in occupational performance, satisfaction, and goal attainment level with regard to the individually meaningful activities, between pretest, posttest, and follow-up. User satisfaction with the ATDs and associated services was generally 'satisfactory,' and the mean score significantly increased from post-intervention to follow-up. The psychosocial impact of assistive technologies significantly improved from post-intervention to follow-up evaluation.

CONCLUSION

Interventions involving concepts, processes, and strategies based on the HAAT model should be continuously performed to select and adopt appropriate interventions involving assistive technologies.