Design of a peer-to-peer telerehabilitation model.

PURPOSE: To describe the design and development process for an information network that meets the complex needs for information exchange by persons with disabilities. This paper describes the needs assessment and design processes that drove the selection of specific system features, and discusses the range of entities with whom persons with disabilities must exchange information. The authors delineate the design goals and their associated specifications for a network of local resource information that serves the needs of persons with disabilities. A model program has been specified and is currently under development. It will enable users to exchange personal, health, and resource information with service entities and with other members of the disability community who depend on detailed information to support their performance of everyday tasks. As an outcome this activity, a highly portable, replicable, sustainable, scalable, and secure model of consumer-driven information exchange will become available to persons with disabilities and to those who provide services to them. The impact of this system will be amplified when it is launched and replicated in interested communities nationwide.