You may remember that we were contacted a couple of years ago by Andrew Hodrien, a PhD researcher from the School of Health Sciences at the University of Salford (Manchester, UK). Andrew has been conducting research with people who have lost an upper limb through amputation and people with congenital upper limb absence. The research is entitled ‘An exploration of factors associated with embodiment of upper limb prostheses’. (Prosthesis embodiment is a term used to describe the feeling that a prosthetic limb is a ‘part of’ the user.)
In his previous interviews study with prosthesis users Andrew identified a large range of potential factors which may be associated with upper limb prosthesis embodiment.
Andrew is now undertaking a follow up study to further explore these factors in a larger sample via questionnaire, to quantitatively measure their association with embodiment. The information gained is hoped to inform prosthetics design and/or rehabilitation.
Read on below for more information and then please contact Andrew if you feel that you can help him with this valuable study which has been assessed by the University of Salford’s ethics committee and follows the research code of The British Psychological Society and can be accessed through the link below.
The research involves completion of an anonymous self-contained online survey which takes about 40 minutes to complete. The survey questions cover background on the user and their prosthesis, followed by questions on feelings towards their prosthesis.
Andrew will be recruiting until the 17/02/19.
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Have you been using an upper limb prosthesis? – Research participation request
If so, we are interested to hear from you about your experiences of this and participate in research from the University of Salford – ‘An exploration of factors associated with embodiment of upper limb prostheses’.
The aim of this study is to explore whether specific factors are associated with upper limb prosthesis embodiment (the feeling of the prosthesis being ‘part of’ you). We hope this will develop understanding of prosthesis embodiment and have important implications for prosthetic design and/or rehabilitation.
The research involves completion of a short anonymous online survey, covering a range of feelings towards your prosthesis along with some background questions.
We hope to hear from anyone who is 18 or above and who has an upper-limb prosthesis.
Please follow this link to a survey detailing full information for you to read and decide if you wish to participate.
Recruitment from 23/10/18 to 17/02/19 –
https://salford.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/factors_associated_with_embodiment_of_upper_limb_prostheses
Many thanks,
Andrew Hodrien (PhD researcher)
Useful link:
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