Experiences from a Master's Degree in Assistive Technology for Independent Living

Abstract

This paper presents a Master's Degree in Assistive Technology for Independent Living taught by the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). The main objective of this master's degree is to train professionals to be able to prescribe, adapt, maintain and monitor the use of Assistive Technology to enable the social integration of people with disabilities and elderly people. In this way, graduates are given suitable training in order to be able to propose a range of original solutions with which to overcome barriers caused by disabilities and aging, and to help people with restrictions to achieve more independent living. It is hoped that graduates will be contracted by industries wanting to employ people with disabilities, institutions providing support to people with restrictions, or administrations fighting against social exclusion. Students come from technological, social and health areas. One of the conclusions of this experience was that we found that the mixture of backgrounds provides valuable experience for working in multidisciplinary teams and that practical work with users and professionals is fundamental for the professional training of the graduates.