ABSTRACT
After an initial lock-down phase in 2020, the measures subsequently adopted in Italy to limit the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus made it impossible for people residing in nursing homes to have contacts with the outside world. Here we want to report how the DAT (Home automation, Assistive Technology and Occupational Therapy) service of Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi in Milan, Italy, was able to give continuity to the provision of assistive technology assessment services for older adults with disability who were not able to reach the DAT premises due to social restrictions. In the period 2020–2021, remote AT assessments were organized using a Tele-rehabilitation platform so that the physiatrist in charge of prescribing the assistive devices, supported by a therapist specialized in AT, could connect remotely from the DAT service to nursing homes in the Milan area. There, a rehabilitation professional would participate to the visit. 94 older adults with disability in 2020 and 2021 were able to take advantage of mobility assistive technology assessments provided remotely by DAT service AT professionals. The assistive devices prescribed were found to be appropriate, only a small percentage needed to be revised or were refused. High levels of satisfaction with the service provided were measured through KWAZO questionnaire among users of the service. 80% of the interviewees declared that it might be useful to keep the possibility of carrying out remote AT assessments in the future, even when the state of emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic will be finished. © 2022, The Author(s).