How to Begin:

Please contact us to be officially enrolled in the study. You will need to sign a consent form and assure the researchers that you have a client who may be appropriate for such an intervention (client must have an acquired brain injury, be on your caseload as a referral from DRS, and be ready for a job placement trial). There is also a consent form for your client to sign.

What You Will Need to Do:

Once we have assisted you in completing these steps, we ask you to use this site to learn about the use of handheld computers as cognitive aids. When you are satisfied that you are ready to use a PDA with your client, please email the investigator, who will send you an appropriate PDA with the software needed for your intervention. You may then use the handheld device as you see fit in assisting your client in his/her job placement. Following your intervention, the research team will contact you for a follow-up interview. We will also ask to speak with your client at that time, in order to determine how using the device may have helped. Your client may keep the PDA provided. At the conclusion of the study, we will inform you of the outcomes and award you a certificate of participation.

How to Use this Guide:

This step-by-step guide explores the many ways that handheld computers can be used as cognitive aids. The case studies on the home page briefly describe some uses that Virginians with cognitive issues have found for PDAs. The guide then provides a history of computer use in cognitive rehabilitation, followed by tutorials on basic PDAs, the use of handheld devices as cognitive aids and the use of disability-specific add-on software that may provide additional support for your clients. A catalog of currently available PDAs and software is included, along with resources and links for further reading.

We Are Here to Help:

The research team has a decade of experience working with portable computers as cognitive aids, and has completed a pilot intervention with Virginia job coaches in the past year. Though we hope that the tutorials here will provide you with the information you need to help your clients effectively use PDAs in improving their functional independence and job performance, we recognize that this emerging technology can be difficult to master at first. We are always available to answer participants' questions, and we are determined to help you make the most of this opportunity.