Department of Speech and Hearing Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
School of Health and Rehabilitation Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Assist Technol. 2024 Mar 3;36(2):147-153. doi: 10.1080/10400435.2023.2224410. Epub 2023 Jul 12.
The purpose of this study was to 1) identify and describe the population seeking alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) evaluations at an assistive technology (AT) center in the Midwestern United States and 2) describe the AAC device features or services participants identify as most important at their initial AAC evaluations. Charts of 53 participants seeking AAC interventions at an AT center in the Midwestern United States were retrospectively reviewed. Information from the QUEST 2.0 was used to determine what AT features were identified as most important. The majority of participants seen at the AT center had progressive diseases. Across all of the participants, ease of use and effectiveness were identified as the "most important" aspects of an AAC device satisfaction. These findings highlight the importance of determining who is accessing AAC services across AT centers to determine whether barriers to AAC services exist. Moreover, patients report regarding what variables they deem as most important reflect the fact that excellent service-delivery may not overcome the importance of other variables, such as ease of use that impact AAC use.
1）确定并描述在美国中西部地区一家辅助技术（AT）中心寻求替代和增强沟通（AAC）评估的人群；2）描述参与者在初始 AAC 评估中认为最重要的 AAC 设备特征或服务。回顾了在美国中西部地区一家 AT 中心寻求 AAC 干预的 53 名参与者的图表。使用 QUEST 2.0 中的信息来确定哪些 AT 特征被认为是最重要的。在 AT 中心看到的大多数参与者都患有进行性疾病。在所有参与者中，易用性和有效性被认为是 AAC 设备满意度的“最重要”方面。这些发现强调了确定谁在跨 AT 中心获取 AAC 服务的重要性，以确定是否存在 AAC 服务的障碍。此外，患者报告他们认为最重要的变量反映了这样一个事实，即出色的服务提供可能无法克服其他变量的重要性，例如影响 AAC 使用的易用性。
