Causes and prevention of rehabilitation technology prescription failures

Rehabilitation technology is the application of science and engineering to the solution of human problems and limitations caused by impairments, disabilities and handicaps. Many devices are currently available for the rehabilitation population that reduce or eliminate these limitations. Unfortunately, prescriptions often fail for many reasons. Risk prescription failure can be minimized if the rehabilitation engineer and the rehabilitation physician enter into product development and utilization with a clear understanding of how a technology impacts a patients impairment, disability and handicap as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). We have listed these and other important considerations with selected case examples and a table outlining the impact that many present and future technologies have on these variables