Papers by Paola Bucciarelli
Full paper presentato al World Planning School Congress a Perth, Australia nel Luglio 201
Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, Apr 23, 2010
If working tasks are carried out in inadequate conditions, workers with functional limitations ma... more If working tasks are carried out in inadequate conditions, workers with functional limitations may, over time, risk developing further disabilities. While several validated risk assessment methods exist for able-bodied workers, few studies have been carried out for workers with disabilities. This article, which reports the findings of a Study funded by the Italian Ministry of Labour, proposes a general methodology for the technical and organisational redesign of a worksite, based on risk assessment and irrespective of any worker disability. To this end, a sample of 16 disabled workers, composed of people with either mild or severe motor disabilities, was recruited. Their jobs include business administration (5), computer programmer (1), housewife (1), mechanical worker (2), textile worker (1), bus driver (1), nurse (2), electrical worker (1), teacher (1), warehouseman (1). By using a mix of risk assessment methods and the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) taxonomy, their worksites were redesigned in view of a reasonable accommodation, and prospective evaluation was carried out to check whether the new design would eliminate the risks. In one case-a man with congenital malformations who works as a help-desk operator for technical assistance in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) department of a big organisation-the accommodation was actually carried out within the time span of the study, thus making it possible to confirm the hypotheses raised in the prospective assessment.
Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 2010
If working tasks are carried out in inadequate conditions, workers with functional limitations ma... more If working tasks are carried out in inadequate conditions, workers with functional limitations may, over time, risk developing further disabilities. While several validated risk assessment methods exist for able-bodied workers, few studies have been carried out for workers with disabilities. This article, which reports the findings of a Study funded by the Italian Ministry of Labour, proposes a general methodology for the technical and organisational redesign of a worksite, based on risk assessment and irrespective of any worker disability. To this end, a sample of 16 disabled workers, composed of people with either mild or severe motor disabilities, was recruited. Their jobs include business administration (5), computer programmer (1), housewife (1), mechanical worker (2), textile worker (1), bus driver (1), nurse (2), electrical worker (1), teacher (1), warehouseman (1). By using a mix of risk assessment methods and the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) taxonomy, their worksites were redesigned in view of a reasonable accommodation, and prospective evaluation was carried out to check whether the new design would eliminate the risks. In one case-a man with congenital malformations who works as a help-desk operator for technical assistance in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) department of a big organisation-the accommodation was actually carried out within the time span of the study, thus making it possible to confirm the hypotheses raised in the prospective assessment.
Clinical psychology & psychotherapy
The built environment (BE) impacts on people's disability and health, in terms of overweight,... more The built environment (BE) impacts on people's disability and health, in terms of overweight, depression, alcohol abuse, poor self-rated health and presence of psychological symptoms; it is reasonable to assume that BE also impacts on participation levels. This paper presents the validation of the COURAGE Built Environment Self-Reported Questionnaire (CBE-SR), an instrument designed to evaluate BE in the context of health and disability. Subjects participating to COURAGE, a cross-sectional study conducted on 10,800 citizens of Poland, Finland and Spain, completed a protocol inclusive of the CBE-SR. Psychometric properties and factor structure were analysed, and factor scores created. Gender differences, differences between persons from different age groups and persons reporting the environment as facilitating, hindering or neutral were calculated. Eight items were deleted so that the final version of CBE-SR comprises 19 items. Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.743 to 0.906, and...
Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 2013
A tool to assess the built environment, which takes into account issues of disability, accessibil... more A tool to assess the built environment, which takes into account issues of disability, accessibility and the need for data comparable across countries and populations, is much needed. The Collaborative Research on Ageing in Europe (COURAGE) in Europe Built Environment Outdoor Checklist (CBE-OUT) helps us to understand when features of the neighbourhood environment have either a positive or negative impact on the accessibility of neighbourhoods for healthy ageing. The CBE-OUT is composed of 128 items that can be recorded when present in the evaluated environment. Audits were performed in households randomly selected from each cluster of the sample for Finland, Poland and Spain, following precise rules defined by experts. Global scores were computed both section by section and in the overall checklist, rescaling the resulting scores from 0 (negative environment) to 100 (positive). The total number of completed CBE-OUT checklists was 2452 (Finland, 245; Poland, 972; and Spain, 1235). Mean global score for our sample is 49.3, suggesting an environment composed both of facilitating and hindering features. Significant differences were observed in the built environment features of the three countries and in particular between Finland and the other two. The assessment of features of built environment is crucial when thinking about ageing and enhanced participation. The COURAGE in Europe project developed this tool to collect information on built environment in an objective evaluation of environmental features and is a recommended methodology for future studies. The CBE-OUT checklist is an objective evaluation of the built environment and is centred on technical measurement of features present in the environment and has its foundations in the concepts of disability and accessibility operating in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) model. The CBE-OUT checklist can be analysed using both the total score and the single section score, allowing an evaluation of the facilitating or hindering role of the environment and is usable for predictive analysis of ageing trends. The CBE-OUT checklist makes it possible to collect information about the built environment by means of an objective evaluation of environment features and is a recommended methodology for future studies about the built environment.
Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health, 2014
Global population aging over recent years has been linked to poorer health outcomes and higher he... more Global population aging over recent years has been linked to poorer health outcomes and higher healthcare expenditure. Policies focusing on healthy aging are currently being developed but a complete understanding of health determinants is needed to guide these efforts. The built environment and other external factors have been added to the International Classification of Functioning as important determinants of health and disability. Although the relationship between the built environment and health has been widely examined in working age adults, research focusing on elderly people is relatively recent. In this review, we provide a comprehensive synthesis of the evidence on the built environment and health in the elderly. environment and the psychosocial environment . This model highlights the functional links between the aging person and micro-, meso-, and macrosystem levels of the environment, as well as the unstable equilibrium between environment and individual competence in very old age . However, the built environment is not only related to health through physical activity. It is also connected to health through other aspects: falls, pollution, social interaction, safety, economical and climate issues . Moreover, the effect of the built environment on elderly people in particular has to be taken into account, as this population tends to spend more time at home and in the community area compared with other age groups .
Maturitas, 2012
The built environment can increase or decrease disability through its impact on mobility or acces... more The built environment can increase or decrease disability through its impact on mobility or accessibility to infrastructures, and through its relation to social environment. There is a need for the development of a tool which allows to assess built environment in both objective and self-reported manner, contemplating also issues of accessibility and disability, and that allows data comparability across countries and populations.
Maturitas, 2012
The aim of the paper is to prove that the COURAGE in Europe Built Environment (CBE) instrument se... more The aim of the paper is to prove that the COURAGE in Europe Built Environment (CBE) instrument selected items are relevant to health and disability assessment and evaluation. The two lists of the CBE preliminary items--outdoor checklist and self-reported questionnaire--were linked to the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth (ICF-CY) through established linking rules. The pool of the CBE 162 preliminary items were linked to a total of 184 categories of ICF-CY, and belonged mainly to two out of the four of the ICF-CY components. Fifteen of the items were not linked to any category of the ICF-CY classification at all. The linking process showed that more than 90% of CBE preliminary items were linked to ICF-CY categories and more than 4/5 of them were linked to the ICF-CY component of environmental factors. The fact that most of the linked CBE preliminary items referred to few ICF categories, on one hand showed that the ICF framework encompasses a lot of different aspects related to functioning and disability; on the other hand ICF categories are not very detailed for a comprehensive description of the built environment features.
Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 2013
A tool to assess the built environment, which takes into account issues of disability, accessibil... more A tool to assess the built environment, which takes into account issues of disability, accessibility and the need for data comparable across countries and populations, is much needed. The Collaborative Research on Ageing in Europe (COURAGE) in Europe Built Environment Outdoor Checklist (CBE-OUT) helps us to understand when features of the neighbourhood environment have either a positive or negative impact on the accessibility of neighbourhoods for healthy ageing. The CBE-OUT is composed of 128 items that can be recorded when present in the evaluated environment. Audits were performed in households randomly selected from each cluster of the sample for Finland, Poland and Spain, following precise rules defined by experts. Global scores were computed both section by section and in the overall checklist, rescaling the resulting scores from 0 (negative environment) to 100 (positive). The total number of completed CBE-OUT checklists was 2452 (Finland, 245; Poland, 972; and Spain, 1235). Mean global score for our sample is 49.3, suggesting an environment composed both of facilitating and hindering features. Significant differences were observed in the built environment features of the three countries and in particular between Finland and the other two. The assessment of features of built environment is crucial when thinking about ageing and enhanced participation. The COURAGE in Europe project developed this tool to collect information on built environment in an objective evaluation of environmental features and is a recommended methodology for future studies. The CBE-OUT checklist is an objective evaluation of the built environment and is centred on technical measurement of features present in the environment and has its foundations in the concepts of disability and accessibility operating in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) model. The CBE-OUT checklist can be analysed using both the total score and the single section score, allowing an evaluation of the facilitating or hindering role of the environment and is usable for predictive analysis of ageing trends. The CBE-OUT checklist makes it possible to collect information about the built environment by means of an objective evaluation of environment features and is a recommended methodology for future studies about the built environment.
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Papers by Paola Bucciarelli