FASTER
Framework for Accelerated and Systematic Technology-based intervention development and Evaluation Research
The FASTER Collective aims to stimulate discussion, adoption, and promotion of varied approaches (beyond randomized controlled trials) to generate evidence for technology-based interventions applied in disability and rehabilitation, including advancing the development and application of FASTER.
Elements of current approaches for evidence generation, focusing on randomized controlled trials and clinical trials practices based in pharmaceutical development, are inappropriate for the development and evaluation of technology-based interventions because these approaches do not facilitate generation of meaningful, timely, and practical evidence that is important to support integration of these interventions into real-world practice.
We need to shift how we generate evidence and redefine what is currently deemed as high-quality evidence in order to better enable integration of these interventions, especially when interventions are new and involve rapidly evolving technology.
FASTER was created in response to challenges with current approaches for generating high-quality research evidence for technology-based interventions applied in the field of disability and rehabilitation.
FASTER is aimed to be useful for researchers, technology developers, clinicians, and others who are developing technology-based interventions or interested in applying evidence to support intervention integration into practice. FASTER is informed by innovation design practices, complex intervention development, evaluation, and implementation, and our experiences in research and clinical rehabilitation practice related to technology-based interventions.
Technology-based interventions include products (e.g. wheelchairs, robotic exoskeletons), and services and systems (e.g. mobile applications with speech to text or wayfinding functions, smart home monitoring systems) that are used by people with disabilities, their caregivers, or clinicians. These interventions may have assistive, therapeutic, or service delivery functions, and have potential to enhance health and well-being, performance of valued activities, community participation, and societal inclusion.
OVERVIEW OF FASTER
Figure 1. Three phases of FASTER and four guiding principles (modified from Wang et al. 2021).
FASTER is a three-phased approach:
Phase 1 - Development
Phase 2 - Progressive Usability and Feasibility Evaluation
Phase 3 - Scaled Evaluation and Implementation
with four guiding principles:
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User engagement
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Trans-disciplinary and trans-sectoral collaboration
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Ethical development and implementation
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Process evaluation and reporting
The approach also emphasizes the following:
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Phased and iterative development and evaluation of interventions
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Rapid intervention prototyping
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Engagement and iterative testing with users in small scale studies in all phases
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Early deployment of interventions, in scaled and replicated evaluations of interventions in real-world environments
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Incorporation of heterogeneous users in development and evaluation of intervention
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Use of diverse research methods and designs in generating evidence, often involving qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods.
Read more about the FASTER framework in our overview publication.