Assistive technology outcomes research: challenges met and yet unmet.

Abstract

This article highlights the special requirements, achievements, and yet unmet challenges of assessing the outcomes of assistive technology services. The current status of this research is considered from the standpoint of developmental stages that seem to characterize many areas of outcomes research. Those stages include exhortation, sober appraisal, infrastructure building, and "getting on with it." The status of measuring assistive technology outcomes is described, and efforts to develop new measures are critically reviewed. Three as yet unmet challenges are discussed that are faced alike by assistive technology outcomes research and by rehabilitation outcomes research in general. They are as follows: (1) operationalizing a multiple-stakeholder approach to outcomes research; (2) formulating adequate treatment theories; and (3) creating shared databases.