HabITec: A Sociotechnical Space for Promoting the Application of Technology to Rehabilitation

Elizabeth Kendall, Soo Oh, Delena Amsters, Mary Whitehead, Justin Hua, Paul Robinson, Dinesh Palipana, Andrew Gall, Ming Cheung, Leigh Ellen Potter, Derek Smith and Brett Lightfoot
Additional contact information
Elizabeth Kendall: The Hopkins Centre, Menzies Health Institute Qld (MHIQ), Griffith University Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia
Soo Oh: The Hopkins Centre, Menzies Health Institute Qld (MHIQ), Griffith University Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia
Delena Amsters: The Hopkins Centre, Menzies Health Institute Qld (MHIQ), Griffith University Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia
Mary Whitehead: The Hopkins Centre, Menzies Health Institute Qld (MHIQ), Griffith University Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia
Justin Hua: The Hopkins Centre, Menzies Health Institute Qld (MHIQ), Griffith University Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia
Paul Robinson: The Hopkins Centre, Menzies Health Institute Qld (MHIQ), Griffith University Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia
Dinesh Palipana: The Hopkins Centre, Menzies Health Institute Qld (MHIQ), Griffith University Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia
Andrew Gall: The Hopkins Centre, Menzies Health Institute Qld (MHIQ), Griffith University Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia
Ming Cheung: Griffith Centre for Design and Innovation Research (CDAIR), Griffith University, South Bank Campus, QLD 4101, Australia
Leigh Ellen Potter: Innovative Design and Emerging Applications Lab, School of ICT, Griffith University, Nathan Campus, Nathan, QLD 4109, Australia
Derek Smith: Advanced Design and Prototyping Technologies Institute, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Parklands, QLD 4560, Australia
Brett Lightfoot: National Director of Healthcare, Microsoft Australia, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia

Societies, 2019, vol. 9, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: Society is currently facing unprecedented technological advances that simultaneously create opportunities and risks. Technology has the potential to revolutionize rehabilitation and redefine the way we think about disability. As more advanced technology becomes available, impairments and the environmental barriers that engender disability can be significantly mitigated. The opportunity to apply technology to rehabilitation following serious injuries or illnesses is becoming more evident. However, the translation of these innovations into practice remains limited and often inequitable. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that not all relevant parties are involved in the decision-making process. Our solution was to create a sociotechnical system, known as HabITec, where people with disabilities, practitioners, funders, researchers, designers and developers can work together and co-create new solutions. Sociotechnical thinking is collaborative, interdisciplinary, adaptive, problem-solving and focused on a shared set of goals. By applying a sociotechnical approach to the healthcare sector, we aimed to minimize the lag in translating new technologies into rehabilitation practice. This collaborative co-design process supports innovation and ensures that technological solutions are practical and meaningful, ethical, sustainable and contextualized. In this conceptual paper, we presented the HabITec model along with the empirical evidence and theories on which it has been built.

Keywords: assistive technology; rehabilitation; disability; independent living; sociotechnical design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/9/4/74/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/9/4/74/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:9:y:2019:i:4:p:74-:d:283701

Access Statistics for this article

Societies is currently edited by Ms. Farrah Sun

More articles in Societies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().