Search

RESUMO O objetivo deste estudo é caracterizar pacientes com acidente vascular encefálico (AVE), correlacionando as pontuações da escala de equilíbrio de tronco (EDT) com a área da lesão, idade, o quadro clínico e seu estágio de evolução. Foram avaliados 78 pacientes por meio da EDT e da caracterização, com análise dos seguintes dados: tipo de AVE, fase da doença, quadro clínico, área cerebral comprometida, sexo e fatores de risco. Os resultados mostram que não houve relação entre a pontuação da EDT e as demais variáveis. Estes achados levam a concluir que o controle de tronco pode ser algo bastante particular que, portanto, requer uma avaliação específica nos casos de AVE, e a EDT pode ser uma ferramenta para tal finalidade. As variáveis de caracterização testadas não foram fatores determinantes de padrões típicos de controle postural.

Background This study is about the contribution of occupational therapy inside a rehabilitation group, and we focus on the autonomy of patients with disabilities due to leprosy. There are few studies on the use of assistive technology by leprosy patients; to our knowledge, none of them aim to have a subjective approach of care. Our purpose was to analyze the repercussions of assistive technology on autonomy of care of the self in patients with sequels of leprosy. Methods A qualitative, descriptive exploratory study with a semi-structured interview and a field observation as a research method was conducted between November 2014 and February 2015 at a University Hospital in Rio de Janeiro. Findings Eight patients from the service of Occupational Therapy were interviewed, and 44 hours of observation were performed. Interviews followed a semi-structured script and a field journal was used to take notes. Analysis was conducted by the hermeneutic approach. Costs were obtained after a global cost analysis of the fixed and variable expenses and direct and indirect costs to the manufactured products with an amount of 100 dollars. Results were grouped according to the following categories: contribution of the adapted devices for the care of the self and feelings and sensations provoked by the use of self-help devices. The reports revealed feelings, perceptions and meaningful contents about the social, familiar and individual dimensions, also the stigma coupled with leprosy. However, forms of re-signification were elaborated. Conclusions Assistive technology empowers the subject to perform care of the self and promotes social inclusion., Author Summary This study is about occupational therapy and we focus on the autonomy of patients with disabilities due to leprosy. Our purpose was to analyze the repercussions of assistive technology on the autonomy of care of the self in patients with sequels of leprosy We performed a qualitative, descriptive, exploratory study between November 2014 and February 2015 at a university hospital in Rio de Janeiro, and interviewed eight patients. Analysis was conducted by the hermeneutic approach. The following categories were studied: contribution of the adapted devices for the care of the self and feelings and sensations provoked by the use of self-help devices. The reports revealed feelings, perceptions and meaningful contents about the social, familiar and individual dimensions, also the stigma coupled with leprosy. Assistive technology is an approach with a powering potential that provides tools for the subject's care of the self and promotes social inclusion.

The aim of this paper is to discuss the use of intermediary objects in the workspace design process of offshore ac- commodations module. The integration of ergonomics in the design process can lead to better work conditions, more effective- ness in the work process and less health and safety issues. Moreover, it is more efficient in terms of cost if ergonomics is con- sidered from the initial phases of the project, as the potential costs of the redesign, the possible losses and the down-time in the operation of the platform would be more increased. The goal, then, is to discuss the integration of ergonomics and users in- volvement in the design process of accommodations modules, focusing on the transfer of information from reference situations by the use of intermediary objects during the process. In this paper we will present two tools developed to be used as interme- diary object(s) aiming at transferring the experience from the use to the design in the specific field of offshore accommodations module.

This paper presents a work situations mapping of the production and maintenance teams of a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) with transformation potential in future projects. The mapping presented herein was based on the operation and maintenance teams’ experience of an FPSO operating in the Campos Basin. This platform was visited ten times during two years of work period. The methodology used consisted in following-up the work activity, followed by interviews and verbalizations with the operators. The objective was to understand the transformation demands from the user's perspective, by following up on the main maneuvers carried out on different equipment and productive subsystems. The analysis of the work evidenced characteristics that should be kept and others that can be changed in future projects, with the objective of increasing the operation reliability and reduce work demands and effort to execute some operations. Particularly, ultra deep waters projects, located far away from the shore, with inherent logistics difficulties and high operation cost, will demand considerable innovation efforts to withstand the characteristics of new production regions such as the Pre-Salt. This innovation should happen on solid basis and effectively considering the needs of future operation and maintenance teams. So, this research tried to rescue experiences in the recent past to improve work conditions in the new platforms. In order to support designers of pipelines area, among others, the change demands were identified from the following work characteristics: ■Physical load (efforts, postures, access difficulties);■Potentiality of reducing physical effort and even the number of operators involved in the task (operation facility);■Importance of the activity for the operation reliability and the platform functioning. It is important to mention that the physical load (particularly related to low-back pain and tendonitis) is identified as the main cause of workers’ absenteeism on oil platforms. The manual operations performed under temporal pressure and conditions that increase physical effort remain high even in automated plants.

This paper presents some basic ergonomics guidelines for oil platform design. These guidelines aim at considering the work of future users, from the beginning of the project, anticipating working condition problems. In this case study, the ergonomics guidelines are based on a two-year ergonomics research divided into two main stages: [1] visits to the petroleum platforms; and [2] validation of the guidelines by the design engineers. By analyzing operating platforms we suggest the construction of what we call settings of usage. These are schemes of usage that preserve the essential relations of current situations and are able to advise the designers’ activities. These settings are not general guidelines, nor detailed specifications. They are minimal specifications capable of influencing final solutions. These guidelines aim at helping design engineers from the very beginning of the project. This paper will present settings of usage and guidelines for pig systems, valves, stairways, turbo-generator and cargo handling systems. The knowledge accumulated by ergonomics about human behavior and its relation with objects is, nowadays, considered insufficient. The human factors manuals are not used or read by the engineers. They do not understand the rules produced nor do they know how to design following the rules if they had read them. Apart from the approach focused on human properties and abstract tasks, the project centered on activity analysis gives privilege to the practical dimension establishing distinguished design criteria according to the agent (usability, manufacturability and maintainability) but also guides the user's needs (in practical and effective usage situations). The identification of the suggested settings of usage in order to instruct the basic project does not substitute future ergonomists who will work in cooperation with the design engineers. These settings of usage create basic guidelines which will anticipate and avoid problems concerning inadequate efforts and postures, access difficulty and displacements, execution difficulty levels (functionality), accident risks, the need for a higher number of operators involved in the task execution, etc.