What is Assistive Technology: Difference between revisions

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Assistive technology is a human right obligations as identified by the United Nations Convention on the  Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).  The UNCRPD was ratified by 157 Countries to establish the availability of  high-quality,  affordable assistive  products as a right ensuring equal opportunities.<ref>Khasnabis C, Mirza Z, MacLachlan M. Opening the GATE to inclusion for people with disabilities. The Lancet. 2015 Dec 5.</ref>  
Assistive technology is a human right obligations as identified by the United Nations Convention on the  Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).  The UNCRPD was ratified by 157 Countries to establish the availability of  high-quality,  affordable assistive  products as a right ensuring equal opportunities.<ref>Khasnabis C, Mirza Z, MacLachlan M. Opening the GATE to inclusion for people with disabilities. The Lancet. 2015 Dec 5.</ref>  
=== Needs  ===
=== Needs  ===
Globally, one billion people need assistive technology to lead healthy, productive and dignified lives. Although AT is used across the lifespan, the need is greatest amongst the elderly, people living with chronic conditions and people with disabilities.<ref name=":5">Assistive technology factsheet. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2018 (<nowiki>https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/assistive-technology</nowiki>, accessed 24 may 2021).  </ref> <ref name=":1" /> Among those living with a disability worldwide, 1 in 10 children are children.<ref>Banozic A, Shi G, Ke S. [https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2022.859272/full The role of Assistive Technology in advancing Sustainable Development Goals.] Frontiers in Political Science.:24.</ref> As the world’s population ages and the prevalence of non-communicable diseases increases, the need for assistive technology will continue to rise.<ref name=":5" /> Those in need also need to be able to access AT in order to participate in education, work, as well as family and community life.  Accessing AT in low-resource countries can be difficult to affordability, availability and acceptability leaving only one in 10 people in these areas access. <ref name=":5" /><ref name=":4" />  The video below by the World Health Organization demonstrates the benefits of assistive technology:<br>
Globally, one billion people need assistive technology to lead healthy, productive and dignified lives. Although AT is used across the lifespan, the need is greatest amongst the elderly, people living with chronic conditions and people with disabilities.<ref name=":5">Assistive technology factsheet. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2018 (<nowiki>https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/assistive-technology</nowiki>, accessed 24 may 2021).  </ref> <ref name=":1" /> Among those living with a disability worldwide, 1 in 10 children are children.<ref>Banozic A, Shi G, Ke S. [https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2022.859272/full The role of Assistive Technology in advancing Sustainable Development Goals.] Frontiers in Political Science.:24.</ref> As the world’s population ages and the prevalence of non-communicable diseases increases, the need for assistive technology will continue to rise.<ref name=":5" /> Those in need also need to be able to [[Access to Assistive Technology|access AT]] in order to participate in education, work, as well as family and community life.  [[Access to Assistive Technology|Accessing AT]] in low-resource countries can be difficult to affordability, availability and acceptability. <ref name=":5" /><ref name=":4" />  The video below by the World Health Organization demonstrates the benefits of assistive technology:<br>
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Revision as of 21:18, 21 July 2022

Welcome to Assistive Technology in Rehabilitation Content Development Project. Please do not edit unless you are involved in this project, but please come back in the near future to check out new information!! If you would like to get involved in this project and earn accreditation for your contributions, please get in touch!

Original Editors - Habibu Salisu Badamasi

Top Contributors - Robin Tacchetti, Habibu Salisu Badamasi, Naomi O'Reilly, Jess Bell, Ewa Jaraczewska, Kim Jackson and Stacy Schiurring      

Introduction[edit | edit source]

Assistive technology (AT) refers to "assistive products and related systems and services developed for people to maintain or improve functioning and thereby promote well-being".[1][2] It allows people with disabilities to live independent, healthy and productive, lives participating in education, work and social life.[3] [4] AT reduces the burden on care-givers and the need for formal health and support services. Without assistive technology, people with disabilities are often wrapped in a cycle of exclusion, isolation and poverty further increasing disability and morbidity.[1]

Assistive technology is a human right obligations as identified by the United Nations Convention on the  Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).  The UNCRPD was ratified by 157 Countries to establish the availability of  high-quality,  affordable assistive  products as a right ensuring equal opportunities.[5]

Needs[edit | edit source]

Globally, one billion people need assistive technology to lead healthy, productive and dignified lives. Although AT is used across the lifespan, the need is greatest amongst the elderly, people living with chronic conditions and people with disabilities.[6] [4] Among those living with a disability worldwide, 1 in 10 children are children.[7] As the world’s population ages and the prevalence of non-communicable diseases increases, the need for assistive technology will continue to rise.[6] Those in need also need to be able to access AT in order to participate in education, work, as well as family and community life. Accessing AT in low-resource countries can be difficult to affordability, availability and acceptability. [6][2] The video below by the World Health Organization demonstrates the benefits of assistive technology:

Types of AT[edit | edit source]

Assistive technologies include any product, piece of equipment or item used to maintain, improve or increase the functional ability of people with disabilities.[2] Assistive products can be made, modified or bought.[8] Assistive devices range from simple, low-technology devices (e.g. canes), to complex, high-technology devices (e.g. motorized wheelchairs).[9] The video below by the World Health Organization demonstrates the benefits of assistive technology:

Categories[edit | edit source]

It is helpful to consider this wide variety of assistive devices under different categories. [9] Some products will fit into more than one category.[8]

  1. Mobility Products: Mobility devices assist people to walk or move and may include:Walking aids, portable ramps, and grab bars
  2. Seeing/Vision Products: Low vision or blindness has a great impact on a person's ability to carry out important life activities. A range of devices (simple to complex) can be used to maximize participation and independence, including reading glasses, magnifiers, audio players, talking and/or touching watches, white canes, braille systems for reading and writing audio devices, e.g. radios, talking books, mobile phones screen readers for computers, e.g. JAWS (Job Access with Speech) is a screen reader programme.
  3. Hearing Products: Hearing loss affects a person's ability to communicate and interact with others; it can impact on many areas of development, e.g. speech and language and restricts educational and employment opportunities, resulting in social discrimination and isolation.[9] Devices include:hearing aids and alarm signalers that use light, sound, and vibration
  4. Communication Products: Augmentative and alternative communication devices can assist individuals who have difficulty understanding and producing speech. They are provided to support speech (augmentative), or to compensate for speech (alternative)[9]. Devices include:communication boards, books, and card
  5. Cognition Products: Cognition (& remembering) is the ability to understand and process information. It refers to the mental functions of the brain such as memory, planning and problem-solving. Brain injuries, intellectual impairment, dementia and mental illness are some of the many conditions that may affect an individual's cognitive ability. The following cognitive devices can assist individuals to remember important tasks/events, manage their time and prepare for activities:[9]pill organizers and whiteboards to remember things.
  6. Self-care and Environment Products: People with physical impairments often have difficulty maintaining good lying, standing or sitting positions for functional activities and are at risk of developing deformities due to improper positioning. The following devices can help overcome some of these difficulties and enable people with disabilities to complete the activities of daily living (e.g. eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, home maintenance). [9]There are many examples of these devices, including: toilet and shower chairs, absorbent cloths.

Priority Assistive Product List[edit | edit source]

The World Health Organization created the Priority Assistive Products List (APL) to improve access to assistive products. This list is comprised of 50 priority assistive products based on widespread need and impact of the user's life. The APL includes both high-tech and low-tech AP in the field of mobility, communication, cognition, personal care, vision, hearing and environment. The list will not be restrictive; the aim is to provide Member States with a model from which to develop a national priority assistive products list according to national need and available resources.[10] [11]

The following list by the World Health Organization [9] details the 50 priority products, although it should not be considered to be restrictive:[12]

Priority Assistive Product List
1 Alarm signallers with light/sound/vibration 18 Hearing loops/FM systems 35 Screen readers
2 Audioplayers with DAISY capability 19 Incontinence products, absorbent 36 Simplified mobile phones
3 Braille displays (note takers) 20 Keyboard and mouse emulation software 37 Spectacles; low vision, short distance, long distance, filters and protection
4 Braille writing equipment/braillers 21 Magnifiers, digital hand-held 38 Standing frames, adjustable
5 Canes/sticks 22 Magnifiers, optical 39 Therapeutic footwear; diabetic, neuropathic, orthopaedic
6 Chairs for shower/ bath/toilet 23 Orthoses, lower limb 40 Time management products
7 Closed captioning displays 24 Orthoses, spina 41 Travel aids, portable
8 Club foot braces 25 Orthoses, upper limb 42 Tricycles
9 Communication boards/books/cards 26 Personal digital assistant (PDA) 43 Video communication devices
10 Communication software 27 Personal emergency alarm systems 44 Walking frames/ walkers
11 Crutches, axillary/ elbow 28 Pill organizers 45 Watches, talking/ touching
12 Deafblind communicators 29 Pressure relief cushions 46 Wheelchairs, manual for active use
13 Fall detectors 30 Pressure relief mattresses 47 Wheelchairs, manual assistant-controlled
14 Gesture to voice technology 31 Prostheses, lower limb 48 Wheelchairs, manual with postural support
15 Global positioning system (GPS) locators 32 Ramps, portable 49 Wheelchairs, electrically powered
16 Hand rails/grab bars 33 Recorders 50 White canes
17 Hearing aids (digital) and batteries 34 Rollators

Provision of AT[edit | edit source]

There are four steps required for provision of assistive technology: select, fit, teach and follow-up. All four process are important to the success of using AT. The first step requires choosing the product that will benefit the user's needs. This process is done in collaboration with the patient and caregiver to understand their needs and how they will be using the product within their environment. The fitting process provides an opportunity to adjust and modify the product to the individual. Teaching involves explaining, demonstration and practice with the AT. Lastly, the follow-up is important to determine if the AT is still meeting their needs and if there are any maintenance or repairs required.[13] The following video by the World Health Organization explains these four steps in more detail:

Resources[edit | edit source]

References [edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Matter R, Harniss M, Oderud T, Borg J, Eide AH. Assistive technology in resource-limited environments: a scoping review. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology. 2017 Feb 17;12(2):105-14.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Tangcharoensathien V, Witthayapipopsakul W, Viriyathorn S, Patcharanarumol W. Improving access to assistive technologies: challenges and solutions in low-and middle-income countries. WHO South-East Asia journal of public health. 2018 Jul 1;7(2):84.
  3. ↑ Smith, R.O., Scherer, M.J., Cooper, R., Bell, D., Hobbs, D.A., Pettersson, C., Seymour, N., Borg, J., Johnson, M.J., Lane, J.P. and Sujatha, S., 2018. Assistive technology products: a position paper from the first global research, innovation, and education on assistive technology (GREAT) summit. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 13(5), pp.473-485.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 de Witte, L., Steel, E., Gupta, S., Ramos, V.D. and Roentgen, U., 2018. Assistive technology provision: towards an international framework for assuring availability and accessibility of affordable high-quality assistive technology. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 13(5), pp.467-472.
  5. ↑ Khasnabis C, Mirza Z, MacLachlan M. Opening the GATE to inclusion for people with disabilities. The Lancet. 2015 Dec 5.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Assistive technology factsheet. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2018 (https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/assistive-technology, accessed 24 may 2021).  
  7. ↑ Banozic A, Shi G, Ke S. The role of Assistive Technology in advancing Sustainable Development Goals. Frontiers in Political Science.:24.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Mather, D. Intro to Assistive Technology Course. Physioplus Course. 2022
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Khasnabis C, Heinicke Motsch K, Achu K, et al., editors. Community-Based Rehabilitation: CBR Guidelines. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2010. Assistive devices. Available from:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK310951
  10. ↑ Boot FH, Owuor J, Dinsmore J, MacLachlan M. Access to assistive technology for people with intellectual disabilities: A systematic review to identify barriers and facilitators. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. 2018 Oct;62(10):900-21.
  11. ↑ World Health Organization: Priority Assistive Products List. 2016. Available from: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/207694/WHO_EMP_PHI_2016.01_eng.pdf.
  12. ↑ Rohwerder B. Assistive technologies in developing countries
  13. ↑ World Health Organization. Training in Assistive Products Modules. 2020. Available from: https://www.gate-tap.org/all-modules/
 
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