Abstract
People with acquired brain injury (ABI) face limitations when performing activities of daily living, including sexuality. Despite the common use among this group of assistive technology to compensate for or neutralize the limitations deriving from their condition, there is very little literature on outcome measures in assistive technology for sexual functioning. The aim of this study was to explore the psychosocial impact of the use of low-cost assistive technology in people with ABI. The sample was made up of 18 users: 15 men and 3 women diagnosed with ABI. The PLISSIT model was used, as well as the Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Device Scale—PIADS as an assessment tool. Three types of low-cost assistive technology were developed: seat cushions, bed equipment, and back supports. All three types of AT obtained positive scores on the PIADS total scale and its three subscales: competence, adaptability, and self-esteem. Although the results of this study are positive, more research into outcome measures for products to improve sexual functioning in people with ABI is required.
Highlights
People with acquired brain injury (ABI) face limitations when performing activities of daily living, including sexuality
Due to the type of dependent variables used in the study, that configure the psychosocial variables of the general objective—the ordinal Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale (PIADS) scale and the sociodemographic variables, which include nominal and ordinal variables—and the number of cases studied, we first conducted a Kruskal–Wallis H test for non-parametric comparison of k-groups
In the case of our study, the independent variable is the type of AT, which segments the sample into three independent groups: G1: Seat cushions 38.9% (n = 7); G2: Bed equipment
Summary
People with acquired brain injury (ABI) face limitations when performing activities of daily living, including sexuality. The aim of this study was to explore the psychosocial impact of the use of low-cost assistive technology in people with ABI. The results of this study are positive, more research into outcome measures for products to improve sexual functioning in people with ABI is required. Occupational therapists and direct care professionals use devices of this kind for various reasons: (1) the high cost of some customized AT, which can be reproduced at a lower cost; (2) the absence of AT that meets the user’s needs and preferences on the market; (3) the need to adapt an existing form of AT to make it suitable for the user. The do-it-yourself movement has influenced disabled people and their relatives to make their own low-cost AT [32,33] and users gather to share ideas at events such as the low-cost gatherings in Spain [34] or on websites like Thingiverse [35] or even Pinterest [36]
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