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Address

SIVA
Centro IRCCS "S.Maria Nascente"
Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi - ONLUS
Via Capecelatro, 66 - I 20148 Milano (Italy)

Phone (+39) 02 40308340
Fax (+39) 02 40090157
E-Mail ausili@siva.it
Web www.siva.it

Expertise

In general terms the Service is prepared to respond to clients with any kind of pathology, disability and age; however, the team's expertise is mainly focused on personal care, mobility, seating, daily life activities, home and workplace adaptations, communication, environmental control, computer access, software for neuropsychological rehabilitation, learning and education, solutions for school and work integration.
Prosthetics and orthotics are outside the scope of the Service; however, whenever needed, it is prepared to assemble hand orthoses and customized grips.

The Service has been providing over 20000 consultations so far (1633 during 1999).

Users and Services

The AT Information and Advice Service offers individual consultation on assistive technology mainly to persons with disabilities, families with disabled members, rehabilitation & health care professionals, teachers, architects, health authorities.
The Service is also prepared to provide specialized consultation to manufacturers in functional testing of their products or prototypes. For such purposes contracts will be agreed upon individually depending on the effort required.

Tools

A number of tools support the team's activities, such as:

• SIVA Portal on assistive technologies for disability and independing living,

• EASTIN Portal - European Assistive Technology Information Network,

• a permanent laboratory / exhibition of technical aids,

• a specialized library of books and videotapes,

• a collection of technical documentation about commercial assistive devices.

The Permanent Exhibition
The exhibition - about 300 square meters wide - is divided into several environments which reflect the most typical situations of daily life.
A wide range of technical aids are on display that can be experienced by the visitors under the supervision of a member of the team.

It includes:

• devices for mobility and seating,

• devices for overcoming architectural barriers,

• an adapted kitchen environment, with tools for daily life and housekeeping,

• an adapted sleeping room environment, with devices for personal care,

• two bathroom environments, with aids for personal hygiene,

• communication, enviromnental control and computer access devices,

• software for learning and leisure.

These devices are displayed free of charge by the manufacturers upon SIVA request. They remain their property. The manufacturers, or their authorised suppliers, are responsible for the technical maintenance and for replacing obsolete products with newer ones. The exhibition is an invaluable tool for individual consultations, in that it allows the client to directly evaluate the effectiveness of the suggested solution.

Guided group visits to the exhibition can be arranged on demand, each group consisting of 10-15 persons. The visit must be previously agreed on the phone with the team. Each visit takes about one hour and half.

Staff

The multi-disciplinary team is composed of 6 people with different backgrounds (occupational therapy, physiotherapy, computer technology and psychology) and further education on assistive technology.

• Maria Rosa Converti Responsible

• Ingela Johnson (Occupational Therapist) Coordinator

• Serenella Besio (Psychologist)

• Antonio Caracciolo (Physiotherapist)

• Manuela Romanò (Physiotherapist)

• Maurizio Saruggia (Physiotherapist)

How to get a consultation

The first contact with the Service should be established on the phone ((+39) 02 40308340 Monday to Friday h 9.00 - 13.00)

The consultations are carried out according to a counselling approach, so as to help the client to clarify his or her needs, set personal goals, and find out appropriate solutions. The appointment allows the team to proper schedule the consultation. On average some 30 clients are being served each week.

Simpler questions are sometimes dealt with also by:

• mail - SIVA, via Capecelatro 66, I-20148 Milano Italy

• e-mail - siva.milano@dongnocchi.it, or 

• on the phone (+39) 02 40308340.

Those who simply need have a look at the assistive devices displayed in the exhibition, may visit it without any appointment every Thursday from 2.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m.

An e-mail can be posted to the team (provided that you have got an Internet access and an e-mail account). Your e-mail system will open and you will be able to submit your enquiry in the message body. Then send the message (the "From" and "To" fields will be automatically filled-in). The team will be pleased to answer you as soon as possible!

For more information on how to get to SIVA, please visit the SIVA Addresses page.

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