The RehabWeek will feature two very interesting panel discussions this year. Please find more details below.

We very much welcome questions and comments from the audience during these discussions!

PANEL DISCUSSION 1

Do We Need Smarter Rehabilitation Technology or Smarter Users

Date & Time: July 27,2022 / 15:15 – 16:15
Organizers: Geoffrey Wright, Han Houdijk, Erik Prinsen
Moderators: Geoffrey Wright, Han Houdijk, Erik Prinsen
Panel Members Name & Affiliation & Country:
Hans Rietman
Physiatrist and professor in Rehabilitation Medicine & Technology at the faculty of Engineering Technology University of Twente, Netherlands

Judith Deutsch
Professor
Director, Rivers lab
Department of Rehabilitation & Movement Sciences at Rutgers University, United States

Helen Huang
Jackson Family Distinguished Professor
NC State/UNC Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering
North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

John Quarles
Associate Professor of Computer Science at The University of Texas at San Antonio, United States

ABSTRACT

The panel will bring together 6 panelists with different perspectives on how smart technology is developed and used. These will include clinicians, engineers, and rehab scientists. It will address a series of themes that are either commonly faced and can be controversial, but are important to the advancement of creating efficacious rehabilitation solutions. Some of the themes are:

1. What/who needs to be smarter: technology, clinician, patient? Who is the end user?
2. How does technology literacy and the technology learning affect adoption of new technological solutions.
3. How does autonomy, predictability, and trust in the technology affect usage and effectiveness.
4. Do we need to make the evaluation “smarter”

PANEL DISCUSSION 2

Assistive Technologies - Innovations in contrast to financial models

Date & Time: July 28,2022 09:45 - 11:00
Organizer: ETH Zurich Competence Centre for Rehabilitation Engineering and Science (RESC)
Moderator: Dr Oliver Stoller, Executive Director RESC, Switzerland
Panel Members Name & Affiliation & Country:
Chapal Khasnabis
Head (a.i) Access to Assistive Technology and Medical Devices Unit at World Health Organization

Diana Pacheco Barzallo
Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation and Healthy Ageing in the Department of Health Science & Medicine at the University of Lucerne
Group Leader of the Rehabilitation, Services & Care Unit at Swiss Paraplegic Research
Invited Professor in the Faculty of Economics, University of Neuchâtel 

Luc de Witte
President of Global Alliance of Assistive Technology Organizations (GAATO) and past president of the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe (AAATE)
Prof. of Healthcare Technology at The Hague University of Applied Sciences

Christoph Jo. Müller
Board Co-President of Digital Assistive Technology Europe (DATEurope)

Susanne Seidinger
Director Global Market Access Management at Otto Bock Healthcare Products GmbH

Alfons Carnicero
CEO & Co-founder at ABLE Human Motion

ABSTRACT

There is a strong need for rehabilitation worldwide. Assistive technologies are important instruments for therapy, training and empowerment of people living with disabilities. However, a balance between technological progress and existing funding/reimbursement models for assistive technologies is not guaranteed yet. We will highlight fundamental challenges for sustainable funding/reimbursement mechanisms and discuss opportunities and limitations with panellists from various countries and backgrounds.