IPPA: Individually Prioritised Problem Assessment

Individually Prioritised Problem Assessment (IPPA) is an instrument to assess the effectiveness of assistive technology provision. It is a generic instrument that can be used to assess the extent to which problems identified by an individual assistive technology user have been diminished. IPPA was developed because existing instruments in the field of Health Technology Assessment are not sufficient for assessing effectiveness of assistive technology. IPPA assesses effectiveness in relation to those activities that the individual respondent considers relevant. At the start of the service delivery process, the client is asked to identify and rate the activities that he or she has problems with in everyday life. The same activities are rated again, a few months after receiving a new assistive technology. IPPA has been used in several studies and has proven to be a usable and valid instrument. 1. Purpose Individually Prioritised Problem Assessment (IPPA) was conceived as an instrument to assess the effective- ness of assistive technology provision. It assesses the extent to which problems identified by an individual assistive technology user in his or her daily activities have been diminished as a result of the provision of assistive technology (5). IPPA is primarily meant to be used in outcome stud- ies. Results can be used to support policy decisions related to provision of assistive technology. IPPA can also be used to structure and evaluate an individual service delivery process. IPPA is a generic effectiveness measure. Basically, it can be used to assess the effectiveness of any kind of assistive technology provision. So far, IPPA has been applied in outcome studies to assess the effectiveness of provision of mobility aids (2,5), transportation ser- vices (2), hearing aids (5), communication devices (5), home adaptations (5), telephone relay services (1) and a robot manipulator (8). In Norway it has been used