Abstract

Social care service providers have historically been enthusiastic users and exploiters of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) that support disabled people at home. Currently a proliferation in the range of technologies and applications is emerging in both literature and mainstream services. In Europe, three key issues have together stimulated the emergence of innovative and dynamic service models that utilise ICT to support the independence and autonomy of disabled people in community settings. These are the expanding role of community care services, the evolution of social models of disability and growing recognition of user empowerment.