Programs in
Assistive Technology Education
for End-Users in Europe

Name of the organisation
    RIBE AMT
    Hiaelpemiddelcentralen
Address
    Hoegevej, 11
    6705 Esbjerg
    DENMARK
    Telephone: +45 74 141519
Key Person of the organisation
    Kirsten Juul-Andersen, occupational therapist leader

A provider of health and social services involved in information/advice activities. Nevertheless, educational activities for professionals (begun more than 10 years ago) are organised, in which the themes of independent living and AT are also considered.

The educational activities carried out over the past 5 years can be classified as follows:

  • 20-25 non-residential training course, addressed to a target of personal assistants and technologists;
  • 10-15 information activities, represented by periodicals, exhibitions and congresses, mass media coverage, addressed to a very wide public;
  • activities addressed to the individual are part of daily work, mainly in the form of advice and peer counselling, addressed to a target of users: persons with disabilities, the elderly, families.

AT plays a very important role in all these activities, and almost all the areas related to AT are considered, mainly in the activities addressed to the individual.

TRAINING COURSES AND SEMINARS

No specific title for the training activities described have been reported, nor other information such as the specific target, the duration, typology, and so on. In any case, a general description is given concerning the organisation and implementation aspects. In a note, the compiler says that end-users' education is only a small part of the organisation's educational activities.

Selection

The initiatives were mainly publicised through leaflets and radio-TV, although the former proved the more effective. Information was usually sent out to the organisation's address database. Participants were selected for the type of impairment and disability (type not given), but also for professional experience. Teachers were selected for their level of expertise, while no preference for teachers with disabilities was considered.

Organisation

The various initiatives took place on the organisation's premises, giving careful consideration to all the possible environmental aspects. In addition, coffee and lunch breaks, and welcome and farewell sessions were organised. Participants had to pay a fee of DK 500 per day.

A co-ordinator had the responsibility of overseeing the whole activity.

Implementation

Contents were mainly delivered via lectures and group discussions, but also through work groups, during which demonstration and individual use of products was conducted. The more theoretical lessons were supported by the aid of overhead projection, slides and handouts. The chosen key-words for the learning styles adopted are questioning and good presentation.

Self-presentation on the opening day was the most commonly used method to collect information on the participants, while feedback was collected both through a final questionnaire and a final guided discussion; this information was used to reflect on the effectiveness of the educational activity. A follow-was also done via a questionnaire.