Accessibility Expertise
Accessibility and accessibility enable people to be equal. The physiotherapist’s expertise is focused on assessing the accessibility of built and natural environments and planning to remove barriers. The physiotherapist works in the planning of the environment in a multi-professional working group as an expert on the client’s mobility and ability to function, and together with the client evaluates the functionality of the environment in relation to the client’s resources and operational goals. Environmental planning can focus on new construction and renovation construction. In new construction, for example, homes and public buildings are designed in such a way that people with different functional abilities can perform in the environment as they wish.
In repair construction, individual changes are made to the operating environment that promote the customer’s operational capacity. Early environmental design work can reduce risks affecting health and functional impairment, e.g. Design of the work environment. Also in the planning of nature sites, considering accessibility and accessibility enables safe and easy movement in the destination and the availability of services for as many users as possible, both people with reduced mobility and the elderly and children.
In the planning of operational environments, technology is used to secure and facilitate human activity. The technology must be designed in such a way that it supports human activity and is also suitable for supporting the activity of a person with different operational resources. Supporting the safe survival of the elderly at home with the help of technology is particularly important. The physiotherapist uses digital technology, for example, to facilitate movement (automatic door environments) or to promote functionality (adjustable kitchen furniture, sound signals to support cognitive function or to visualize the space). Digitality and operation online enable users to operate regardless of time, place and ability to function.
Perceived insecurity must not be an obstacle to participation. Accessibility means not only the accessibility of the technology itself, but also the accessibility of the surrounding environment, residential environment and society. Physiotherapists work at this interface between the client and technology. This way they can influence the exploitation of technology.
According to the physiotherapy nomenclature, assistive device services that support mobility and functional ability related to accessibility and accessibility, as well as physiotherapy services that support survival at work. In the assistive services, the physiotherapist assesses the client’s functioning and what kind of assistive solutions the client would be able to cope with in their everyday life. A physiotherapist’s core competence in assistive device evaluation is primarily focused on assessing the need for mobility aids, choosing an assistive device and guiding the use of an assistive device. Physiotherapy services for survival at work include evaluation and guidance of the client’s ways of working, assessment of the client’s work ability and guidance that promotes work ability, and planning and implementation of changes to the work environment.
