‘How to’ consider the use of technology for executive function support after acquired brain injury (ABI): Development and testing new information and education resources for people with ABI, their families and clinicians working with them.

Session Synopsis
Mainstream and assistive technologies offer opportunity to change the way support is delivered to people with acquired brain injury (ABI). Smart home, wearable and mobile technologies, and associated mobile applications, can offer varied approaches to compensate for executive dysfunction. However, tools to guide consideration and selection of technology for compensatory cognitive support are lacking for both people who may use this technology, and people who advise on its use.

This ‘How To’ session will present a draft set of information and education resources for evaluating technologies which may be used to compensate for executive dysfunction following ABI. Varied resources have been designed for two audiences: people with ABI and their families and clinicians working with them. Workshop attendees will explore the use of the resources via a case scenario (contributed by our team’s lived experience collaborators) to evaluate and consider features of technology that can be customised to a user’s goals and support needs. There will be an opportunity to provide structured feedback about the utility of these resources, based on this applied experience.

Level aimed for: Basic to Intermediate

Learning objectives:
At the end of this session, participants will have: 

1. Gained a greater understanding of the good practice steps, assessment tools and processes that underpin a clinician’s role in advising on assistive technology;
2. Learned about a new set of technology information resources developed by a research team in collaboration with people with lived experience of ABI; health professionals; researchers and social and injury insurers;

3. Been offered an opportunity to test the resources being developed, using a case scenario contributed by lived experience collaborators;
4. Contributed feedback which will further inform the resource design and utility for both people with ABI and their families, as well as people who advise them on technologies used for executive function support.

Biography:
Libby, Grahame, Em and Lisa have extensive interdisciplinary experience in disability and rehabilitation research and/or clinical practice across Victoria and NSW. Jade and Jacqueline bring injury insurer expertise from the TAC (Victoria) and icare (NSW). The group is working together on a multi-year research project evaluating smart home, wearable and mobile technologies for cognitive support following ABI.