Abstract

By examining the complex relationship between people with disabilities and their orthosis, this research tries to find ways to diminish the negative side effect caused by wearing orthosis. Although an orthosis helps a patient to improve his or her physical impairment, if the orthosis is properly prescribed, the patient often experiences psychological problems of anger, anxiety, and depression which lead to a serious decrease in compliance of wearing the orthosis as the orthosis can remind the patient his or her disability. As a result, the patient often experiences a serious problem of participation restriction in life situations. The research team hypothesized that aesthetically improved orthosis could assist patients to accomplish their rehabilitation process more successfully, furthermore the aesthetic orthosis could function as a kind of body ornament or jewelry as a means of expressing their identity. Based on the interviews and analysis on medical conditions of the participants, the research includes three experimental case studies responding to specific participants’ needs.