Case study: Utility of a microcomputer as an external memory aid for a memory-impaired head injury patient during in-patient rehabilitation

Kim, Hyun Jung; Burke, David T.; Dowds, Murdo M.; George, J.

doi:10.1080/026990599121818

Cited by 93 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Facilitators reported that the morning reminder was a minimal intervention compared to their typical pattern of providing students with prompts throughout the day related to their schedules. Results from this study are similar to the success in small-scale adult studies of handheld organizers (Kim et al, 1999(Kim et al, , 2000Kirsch et al, 2004;Wright et al, 2001). They all suggested that handheld organizers enhanced the ability of patients to complete suggested tasks with less direct intervention from those around them.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Do PDAs enhance the organization and memory skills of students with cognitive disabilities?

Gillette

DePompei

2008

Psychology in the Schools

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The project studied the on-time behavior of 35 students with intellectual disabilities (ID) or traumatic brain injury (TBI) under three conditions -times and tasks list, paper planner, and two different personal data assistants (PDAs). Students participated for two 4-week periods, receiving one morning reminder during Period 1 and no reminders during Period 2. Students were on time more often using a PDA compared to a list (p < .024) or a planner (p < .002). Students were on time 50% more often in Period 1 with a single daily morning reminder as compared to no reminder across all conditions. When applying results, clinicians and researchers should note that only the alarm function prompting on-time behavior was studied, and the influence of the small sample size and short time frame. Future researchers will find a framework for studying PDAs and cell phones with larger samples, over longer time periods, and with a wider range of functions. C 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Many persons with cognitive disabilities as a result of intellectual disability (ID, mental retardation) or traumatic brain injury (TBI) have difficulties with organization and memory that can interfere with successful management of activities of daily living and contribute to loss of personal independence (Hart, Hawkey, & Whyte, 2002;Knight, Devereux, & Godfrey, 1998). A number of interventions have been designed to enhance the ability of these individuals to use memory and organizational skills. Attention has often centered on the use of external aids to cognition (Parente & DiCesare, 1991;Sohlberg et al., 2007) . Specifically, the use of electronic devices may provide a dependable compensatory strategy made possible by advances in computer technology (Bergman, 2002;Wade & Troy, 2001). Generic electronic technologies such as personal data assistants (PDA) can provide a platform for enhancing memory and organization skills and may be beneficial to these individuals. Useful functions in these devices include a calendar, appointment alarms, to-do lists, contact information, and a calculator. Electronic alarms within the calendar function may be of particular interest to interventionists, because audible alarms can provide a prompt that might otherwise need to be administered by a caregiver.A partnership among the University of Akron, The Brain Injury Association of America, Temple University, Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, and Spaulding Hospital, known as the Assistive Technology and Cognitive Disability Collaborative, was funded by the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research to examine the potential of generic electronic organizers to enhance the independence of adults and children with memory and organization problems. The first stage of our research agenda included a survey of children and adults with ID and TBI in order to examine the use of and preferences related to electronic organizers. Results of the three surveys (one with adults with TBI, one focusing on adults with ID, and one focusing on children with ID or TB...

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Do PDAs enhance the organization and memory skills of students with cognitive disabilities?

Gillette

DePompei

2008

Psychology in the Schools

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Also, the handheld computer was found to eliminate difficulties with occupational performance related to remembering and enhanced the participants' possibilities to concentrate on doing other important tasks. In agreement with these results, Kim et al [15,37] found that handheld computers are useful as external memory aid. All participants were motivated to use ET to compensate for their diffculities and all these ET was used by the particianpants at follow-up.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Improvements of task performance in daily life after acquired brain injury using commonly available everyday technology

Lindén¹,

Lexell²,

Lund³

2010

Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose: To investigate how individualized occupation-based interventions with commonly available everyday technology (ET) can compensate for perceived difficulties with daily life tasks after an aquired brain injury (ABI) and improve satisfaction with occupational performance. Method: This intervention study was designed as a multiple case study according to Yin. Ten men and women with an ABI (traumatic or non-traumatic) participated. Data were collected through interviews, observations and field notes before and after the intervention and at follow-up (on average 11 weeks afterwards). The interventions focused on enabling each participant's prioritized goals related to task performance in daily life. Results: All participants achieved all their goals by learning to use both new functions in their own familiar ET and new ET. The participants perceived difficulties in occupational performance decreased and their satisfaction with occupational performance increased with the use of ET. Conclusions: An individualised intervention process, involving the use of own familiar ET or ET off-the-shelf, has the potential to compensate for perceived difficulties following an ABI and improve satisfaction with occupational performance in daily life.Key words: activities of daily living; assistive technology; brain injury; occupational therapy; rehabilitation INTRODUCTIONPeople with an acquired brain injury (ABI) can experience a wide range of difficulties with daily life tasks, such as self-care, productivity and leisure [1,2], as well as restrictions of participation and decreased quality of life [3][4][5][6][7]. A compensatory approach to reduce remaining disabilities are therefore commonly applied, in rehabilitation in general [4,8,9] as well in occupational therapy [10,11]. In occupational therapy [11], adapted methods of doing, adaptive equipment and assistive technology (AT) are used to compensate for ineffective actions to improve the performance of daily life tasks that people with an ABI need and want to do to enhance their roles and participation in society.AT comprises low-tech (mechanical) and high-tech (electro-mechanical or computerized) devices [12] and is defind as "any item, piece of equipment, or product system, (acquired commercially off-the-shelf, modified, or customized), that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities" [13]. However, it can be difficult to differentiate AT from everyday technology (ET) objects [14], such as mobile phones and computers, that already exist in peoples' lives and may be used to reduce difficulties in occupational performance.In reviewing the literature about the use and efficency of AT or ET in the form of electronic aids in people with ABI, it was found that a variety of AT, such as palmtop computer, paging system, voice organizer, can reduce memory problems [9,[15][16][17][18][19]. To the best of our knowledge, only one study has used unmodified handheld computers off-the-shelf to compensate for disabilities ...

show abstract

“…Current personal digital assistants (PDAs) and palmtop computers provide timemanagement software which has the potential to be used as a diary/alarm system for people with memory impairment. Kim et al [22] introduced a Psion Series 3a palmtop computer to a 22-year-old man whose memory skills were poor and who was undergoing rehabilitation for a closed head injury due to a vehicle accident. Closed head injury results from a blow to the head that may or may not result in skull fracture, subjecting the brain to mechanical forces [e.g., 24,55].…”

Section: Current Electronic Memory Aids and Usabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Issues surrounding the user-centred development of a new interactive memory aid

Inglis

Szymkowiak

Gregor

et al. 2003

Universal Access in the Information Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Memory problems are often associated with the ageing process and are one of the commonest effects of brain injury. Electronic memory aids have been successfully used as a compensatory approach to provide reminders to individuals with prospective memory problems. This paper describes the usability issues surrounding the development of a new memory aid rendered on a personal digital assistant (PDA); in addition, it discusses the importance of a user-centred design process for the development of the memory aid and preliminary qualitative findings from interviews and focus groups of disabled or elderly users.

show abstract

Case study: Utility of a microcomputer as an external memory aid for a memory-impaired head injury patient during in-patient rehabilitation

Cited by 93 publications

References 17 publications

Do PDAs enhance the organization and memory skills of students with cognitive disabilities?

Do PDAs enhance the organization and memory skills of students with cognitive disabilities?

Improvements of task performance in daily life after acquired brain injury using commonly available everyday technology

Issues surrounding the user-centred development of a new interactive memory aid

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About