Latest news

(01/07/2008) Postgraduate Course on Assistive Technology
Held by Fondazione Don Gnocchi in conjunction with the Catholic University (Faculty of Educational Sciences and Faculty of Medicine). See the preliminary programme of the 2009 edition.

(01/07/2008) Prescrivere gli ausili
Course for physicians entitled to prescribe assistive technology devices for provision through the Italian National Health Service. The course will be held in Roma on December 2-5, 2008, at the Centre "S.Maria della Provvidenza" of the Don Gnocchi Foundation (via Casal Del Marmo 401). The programme will be available as soon as possible on this website

(01/07/2008) Current contents of Portale SIVA
8.366 assistive technology products (6347 currently in production), 1.376 companies, 258 information, research or assessment Centres, 664 ideas on possible solutions to daily living problems, 28 case studies, 236 library documents, 16 on-line lectures, a hypertextual guide to assistive technologies.

(23/05/2008) International Workshop on socio-economic assessment of assistive technology
The annual International Seminar of the AAATE (Association for the advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe) will be held in Milano, Italy on September 25-26, 2008, at the Biomedical Technology Department of Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi. The Workshop will discuss the subject "Socio-economic assessment of assistive technology in service delivery practice", with the contribution of a remarkable slate of experts from the European Union, USA, Canada and Australia. Participation is free but restricted to members of the AAATE and its sister organisations (RESNA, ARATA, RESJA). See the workshop programme.

(03/04/2008) Financial Times Germany awards prize to the EASTIN-Portal
The European internet portal EASTIN with information about assistive products is a prize winner in the Financial Times (FT), Germany competition "Ideenpark Gesundheitswirtschaft" (Health Economy Think Tank). The FT presented EASTIN with an award at the "Gesundheitswirtschaft 2008" (Health Economy 2008) conference for its contribution to more transparency and quality in the Health Care System.
The best projects were selected from the following criteria a) Degree of innovation: Are there comparable national and international projects? b) Relevance: How great is the need for change? c) Quality/transparency/efficiency: Can quality and transparency be increased and costs lowered? d) Enforceability: Can the idea be financially and politically implemented? e) Range: Does the project have a structural impact on the Health Care System?
Prize winner EASTIN offers a central, European internet portal under www.eastin.info, enabling multilingual and barrier-free access to the largest pool of information in the area of assistive products. At present there are six European databases involved in the EASTIN network, these are from Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands.
Everyone who is interested in assistive products is able to research at EASTIN. It could be people with a professional interest, such as, doctors, ergotherapists, sponsors or manufacturers, but also disabled and old people and their relatives. Everyone can find out which assistive products are offered at EASTIN for use in therapy, training, domestic barrier-free living, work and leisure time. Or, which products facilitate mobility, communication and personal care.
Information about the prize winners can be found at the Financial Times website (in German).