The importance of outcome measures for assistive technology service delivery systems

Issue title: Policy and Practice in the 90's

Article type: Research Article

Authors: DeRuyter, Frank

Affiliations: Department of Surgery, Division of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA

Abstract: Although assistive technology is often heralded as the means to improved quality of life for people with disabilities, there is little data to support or refute this claim. Now, with the trend in health care toward accountability and performance monitoring, the assistive technology community finds itself without the tools to prove the value of its services. Measures that include both subjective and objective assessments of quality and outcomes need to be developed with the involvement of all stakeholders in the assistive technology community.

Keywords: Outcomes, Program evaluation, Quality improvement, Accountability

DOI: 10.3233/TAD-1997-61-208

Journal: Technology and Disability, vol. 6, no. 1-2, pp. 89-104, 1997