Article

This theoretical article proposes a framework of understanding a user
perspective of assistive devices utilisation in everyday life. METHOD: Utilising
the MPT model (Matching Person and Technology) and the ValMO model (Values and
Meaning in Human Occupations), a framework of understanding is proposed. RESULTS:
Main components are person, assistive device, and activity, connected by the
person's expectations and experiences concerning the doability/doworthiness
(possible to do/worth doing) of an activity, and the usability/useworthiness
(possible to use/worth using) of an assistive device. Expectations may differ
based on not only earlier experiences (habitus), but also situational and
environmental variations, and result in differing experiences. In general, the
purpose of an assistive device is to increase a person's repertoire of doable
activities. For a person, this can be a function of the evaluation of possible
gains, in terms of correlation between investments (in terms of time and energy),
and the (expected) result of the activity. CONCLUSIONS:
The only person able to
estimate the useworthiness/usability of a device and the doworthiness/doability
of an activity is the user her/himself, assessing the degree at which a specific
assistive device enhances the value of an activity, in turn affecting the habitus
of the (presumptive) user. [Box: see text].

Langue : ANGLAIS