Unit rationale, description and aim
Assistive technology is any device, system, design or environmental modification used to enable participation in occupations that a person wants to or needs to do. Provision of assistive technology is a core competency for occupational therapists in partnering with people to determine the optimal person, environment and occupation fit. The students will build on their understanding of disability, occupational rights, their familiarity with a range of assistive technology products, and occupational and environmental assessments from previous learning to develop, design, implement and evaluate effective assistive technology solutions to optimise a person’s participation. Students will consider ethical issues and apply the capabilities approach to enhance people’s opportunities, occupational rights and equitable access to assistive technology that addresses their valued needs and outcomes.
Overall this unit aims to develop students’ knowledge and practice to uphold the autonomy of the assistive technology user and their central role in all stages of the assistive technology process.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Apply knowledge of practice models, products, feat...
Learning Outcome 01
Demonstrate effective interprofessional and collab...
Learning Outcome 02
Justify and evaluate assistive technology solution...
Learning Outcome 03
Create and report on a sustainable assistive techn...
Learning Outcome 04
Content
Topics will include:
Consumer engagement
- Enabling autonomy, choice and control for participation
- Capabilities Approach
- Disability and occupational rights
- Consumer decision making and dignity of risk
- Ethical, legal and social considerations
Design and development and prescription of assistive technology
- Materials science and product development
- Universal design
- Technical drawing
- Home modifications
- Australian and international standards and legislation
- Assistive technology solutions mainstream and customised
The assistive technology process
- Communication
- Anthropometry
- Practice models for provision of assistive technology/home modifications
- Funding schemes
- Feature matching
- Trials
- Implementation
- Training
- Evaluation
Assessment strategy and rationale
A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with ACU assessment requirements. The assessments have been designed to develop, justify and evaluate assistive technology/home modification solutions and the assistive technology process including evaluation of client needs, assessment, feature matching, implementation and training that is ethical, legal, evidence based, cost effective and develops the capabilities of the client.
In Assessment 1, students will critique an assistive technology provision case study against a range of criteria including human rights, ethics, person – occupation – environment and occupational fit, and sustainability.
Assessment 2 will be a multiple-choice assessment based on lecture content. This will assess factual knowledge of assistive technology practice models, products, features and design principles.
Assessment 3 is a report describing an evidence-based intervention plan including client problem analysis, assessment, feature matching, assistive technology solutions and a training and implementation plan. Assessment 3 is a graded hurdle task as it is the only assessment in the unit that assesses achievement of LO4.
Overview of assessments
Assessment 1: Group Written Assignment – Students...
Assessment 1: Group Written Assignment – Students work collaboratively to critique an assistive technology case study.
30%
Assessment 2: Multiple Choice Assessment to asses...
Assessment 2: Multiple Choice Assessment to assess knowledge of assistive technology practice models, products, features and design principles.
20%
Assessment 3: Individual report. Demonstrate rep...
Assessment 3: Individual report.
Demonstrate report writing that addresses clinical justification for an assistive technology solution including an implementation plan.
Graded Hurdle
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
OTHY415 is taught as an intensive 6-week block. Guided by multimodal learning, students will participate in face to face workshops supported by online learning materials.
The Team Based Learning TBL pedagogy described by Sweet and Michaelson (2012) will be used. Students will be organised into teams and asked to work collaboratively on case study projects. Each team will be expected to create solutions for problems and present them to their peers for feedback. Students will be expected to engage with lectures prior to tutorials, complete formative quizzes each week, take responsibility for their learning and to participate actively within group activities. Learning activities have been designed to develop practical skills in assessment, enabling choice, feature matching, trialling and evaluating assistive technology/home modification solutions. .
Australian Occupational Therapy Competency Standards (AOTCS) 2018
Australian occupational therapy competency standards (AOTCS) 2018 developed with in this unit are: