Occupational Therapy News OTNews March 2020 | Seite 28

FEATURE TECHNOLOGY
Environmental
control systems:
meaningful ways to
promote functional
independence
O
rdinary everyday activities often taken
for granted, such as using a telephone,
closing the curtains or controlling the
television, can be challenging for people
with physical impairments.
However, advances in technology have now
made it more feasible for many people with physical
impairments to relish greater functional independence
within the home, work and community.
Occupational therapists working in the Community
Learning Disabilities Team at the Leeds and York
Partnership NHS Foundation Trust place a clinical
emphasis on the whole person, working collaboratively
to explore ways of maximising functional independence
in a range of occupations, bridging the gap between
skill level and environment through utilisation of
environmental control systems (ECS).
Rebecca Haythorne is a clinical academic at the
Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
In this article she discusses the value of environmental
control systems to promote functional independence
unit that includes an integrated feedback system that
sends an output signal to a target device.
The first ECS (The POSSUM) was developed in
1950s England and was a centralised unit with all the
peripheral devices connecting directly into a central
processing unit (Dickey and Shealey 1987).
Over time, these systems have advanced from large
static systems performing limited functions, to smaller
portable devices with hundreds of possible functions
(Weber Dow and Pearson Rees 2002).
Occupational therapy interventions
Environmental control systems Occupational therapy interventions for people with
complex physical impairments can be a multifaceted
endeavour, requiring a collaborative person-centred
approach that promotes opportunities to experience
new occupations and give old occupations new
meaning (Claire and Verdonck 2012).
Occupational therapists can enhance quality of life
Environmental control systems are defined as devices
that can provide opportunities for people with
impairments to access and operate multiple electronic through facilitating environmental adjustments, not just
by advising on home adaptations and alterations (AOTA
2010) but by incorporating assistive technologies to
and electrically powered devices in their environment.
ECS comprise of an electronic scanner and one or
more switches, and controls can be accessed from
powered wheelchairs, computers and by voice.
ECS generally consist of an input switch interface
that can be customised to user needs, and a control improve occupational performance (Polgar 2006).
ECS empower people with physical impairments
to control and access everyday electronic devices, an
area of life now considered by many as essential to
meaningfully participate in today’s society (Claire and
Verdonck 2012; Emiliani 2011).
28 OTnews March 2020