Patient-Centered design as a research strategy for cognitive prosthetics : Lessons learned from working with patients and clinicians for 2 decades

Patient-centered design addresses the priorities of the individual patient, and is advocated as a research strategy for the design of cognitive assistive technology. From the patient’s perspective, a robust system can be viewed as one that optimally increases her/his level of functioning over the long haul, for his/her priority activities, as they reveal themselves over time. Prosthetic software customization and use is integrated into the user’s therapy sessions. These sessions are conducted in the patient’s home via telerehabilitation. The advantages of this strategy are described, along with research findings that were obtained using this strategy. The need for training rehabilitation therapists is also discussed. Elliot Cole Institute for Cognitive Prosthetics