Breastfeeding assistive technology for people with visual deficiencies: Comparison between Brazil and Portugal

Abstract

Objective: to describe the result of the apparent validation and content of the assistive technology “Breastfeeding in action”, with visually impaired people from two realities, Portugal and Brazil. Method: an apparent validation study based on the psychometric model composed of the theoretical, empirical and analytical poles. Participants were 19 people In Brazil and 21 people in Portugal with visual impairments. The construct is the Assistive Technology in a cordel format, “Breastfeeding in Action”, developed in Brazil and adapted for application in Portugal. For data collection, a computer with a voice synthesizer and computer screen reading system for the blind was used. For the evaluation items a Likert-type scale was used. Results: among the participants of South America, young adults with elementary education and among the Europeans, older adults with elementary education prevailed. Regarding the technology itself, in all topics and items there were excellent evaluations with some topics analyzed differently in the two countries. The participants liked the Assistive Technology, however, it took time for the validation using the synthesizer and, even then, it was often complex. The refusals to participate may have been related to the absence of digital inclusion. Conclusion: it was concluded that the technology was evaluated. It was well accepted and it was found that, for people with visual impairment, new inclusion strategies are still necessary, both in health and in other areas.