Att öka livskvalitet genom mobile assistive technologies. En studie om hur rehabilitering- och habiliteringsverksamheter bör förhålla sig till mobile assistive technologies i syfte att öka livskvalitet för personer med nedsatt synförmåga
Mobile assistive technologyAssistive technologyLivskvalitetSynnedsättningNedsatt synRehabiliteringHabilitering
As the use of smartphones and other mobile technology in our society is constantly increasing,so too does the possibilities of visually impaired persons increase as they are becoming moreable to enhance their quality of life with the help of mobile assistive technology. The purposeof this study was to explore how rehabilitation and habilitation organizations, which areworking with the visually impaired, should approach new technology. We have researched thisby examining the possibilities, opportunities and barriers of using mobile assistive technology.Based on this, we formulated the following research question: What factors are important forrehabilitation and habilitation organizations to consider in order to support, promote andcreate quality of life through the use of mobile assistive technology in their work with thevisually impaired? To answer the above question an exploratory study was made at an eyeclinic in the Västra Götaland region. The study was done through a series of qualitativeinterviews with both staff and patients at the eye clinic. The study resulted in twelve factorsthat rehabilitation and habilitation organizations should take into account when they workwith patients. The main conclusion is that today it is possible to integrate assistive technologywith mobile devices, thus improving the quality of life for people with impaired vision.However, this requires information, knowledge, skills and education of both patients and stafffor it to be used in a safe and appropriate manner. Furthermore, mobile assistive technology isstill an area under development. This will likely turn into a problem for rehabilitation andhabilitation organizations since there's a continuous need to keep themselves updated aboutthe opportunities that exists. Otherwise they might not be able to provide their patients withthe quality health care they should have.Keywords: mobile assistive technology, assistive technology, quality of life, visualimpairment, visually impaired, rehabilitation, habilitation