determinants (impairments associated with health conditions such as diseases, injuries, and aging) and milieu determinants (including AT) create the experience of technology adoption, acceptance, satisfaction, and benefit (i.e., the various AT use out- comes) (Scherer, 2017b). Items on the MPT assessment forms have been successfully cross-walked to the ICF that support a universal assessment process, measurement of AT outcomes to support participation, and providing scientific rigor for potential research in the field of AT. The MPT also aligns with the Global Report on Assistive Tech- nology by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2022). The report provides a key blueprint for advancing AT products and services globally, and outlines 10 overarching recommenda- tions that will enable this AT initiative. The MPT supports three of the recommendations within this global initiative as outlined below: • Recommendation 3: Enlarge, diversify, and improve workforce capacity. Knowledge, skills, motivation, atti- tudes, and deployment of personnel working in the assistive technology sector are keys to success. In support of Rec- ommendation 3, the MPT and MATCH-ACES assessments provide personnel with tools to foster user engagement in the assessment process and help ensure providers ad- dress and assess key influences on technology use and realization of benefits. • Recommendation 4: Actively involve users of assistive technology and their families. • The MPT and MATCH-ACES assessments. The MPT and MATCH-ACES assessments were designed to be used to actively involve users of AT and their families or caregiv- ers in ensuring AT recommendations are made on the basis of the user’s goals, preferences, and priorities con- sidering environmental factors of relevance. There are separate forms for the consumer’s care or educational team to compare perspectives (provider, family member, caregiver, and educator) as the identification of differing perspectives can help overcome barriers to engagement in the AT selection process. • Recommendation 8: Develop and invest in enabling en- vironments. Enabling environments are critical for users’ in- dependence, comfort, participation, and inclusion, as they allow users to use their assistive products as intended with minimum effort by the user or caregiver by including strat- egies for re-assessment and measurement of AT outcomes. The MPT and MATCH-ACES follow-up forms are used as outcome measures. These forms are useful in identify- ing environmental obstacles and barriers and providing strategies to facilitate AT success through the collabora- tion of the AT user, AT evaluator, and other team mem- bers.
is the expansion of this assessment across the educational and rehabilitation field, at a national and international level, that has cultivated a growing body of evidence over the past 25 years. The MPT process has been found to be a reliable and valid assessment for use by persons with disabilities (ages 15 and older), and it is applicable across a variety of users, cultures, and settings. Separate versions exist for early intervention children (MATCH) and special education students (MATCH-ACES). The MPT and MATCH-ACES measures have good psychometric properties, and numerous studies have demonstrated their reliability and validity (Federici et al., 2021; Zapf et al., 2016, Scherer, 2005a; Scherer & Craddock, 2002; Scherer & Cushman, 2000). The use and non-use of technology as conceptualized in the MPT model have been validated by many researchers and authors globally who represent the fields of rehabilitation engineering, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech- language pathology, psychology, and education (Federici & Scherer, 2018). The MPT website (https://sites.google.com/ view/matchingpersontechnology/home?authuser=0) provides details about translations and validation studies conducted over the years (Scherer, 2022). The MPT was a catalyst in the move for user-centered AT as- sessments and has been foundational in educating other pro- fessionals on the importance of including the consumer from the beginning of the assessment process. The MPT model uti- lizes assessment forms and an interview process that facilitates dialogue between the AT evaluator, the user/client and sup- port team to target the users dreams, goals, strengths, areas of need, predisposition factors that can influence AT readiness and usability. The MPT and MATCH-ACES assessment forms are designed to lead the team in a meaningful discussion and a con- sideration process that highlights if the user is ready for AT and what factors one should consider when assessing technology features and personal characteristics. In an AT course for profes- sionals learning AT assessments the students were taught the MPT Framework and assessments. One student reported “the MPT process helped the team understand the groundwork that needed to be done before jumping into implementation of AT solutions”. This student further stated, “the team missed the per- spective of the user before we went through the MPT process. It was an eye-opener to me that a formal assessment procedure is so important, so that we don’t skip any details” (Sax et al, 2023)”. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) is adopted as the worldwide standardized language with which to frame individual functioning and disability (WHO, 2001). Users of the MPT model have found common ground as the contextual constructs of the ICF aligned with the MPT frame- work, therefore, supporting an international and authoritative framework for further confirmation of the strength and scien- tific rigor (Scherer & Sax, 2005). Inherent in the MPT model of a user-driven and person-centered AT assessment process for human functioning and disability is the idea that both health
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