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Tigmanshu Bhatnagar, George Torrens, Ben Oldfrey, Priya Morjaria
Felipe Ramos Barajas, Katherine Perry and Catherine Holloway
Access to information on digital platforms not only facilitates education, employment, entertainment, social interaction but also facilitates critical governmental services, ecommerce, healthcare services and entrepreneurship [1]. Article 9 of United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) enforces its signatories to commit to provide full accessibility to every citizen of the nation [2]. This has helped to spearhead accessibility directives such as the European Accessibility Act [3] that aims to improve the functioning of markets for accessible products and services. Such directives contribute to ensure that mainstream digital technologies (smartphones, computers etc.) are accessible for everyone and without being socially remarkable, they are able to assist in daily living. Additionally, there is evidence that improving access in mainstream technologies improves product experience and usability for everyone [4]. However, mainstream access has not been fully realized, leading to inferior opportunities for people with disabilities, a disparity which is more prominent in lower and middle-income countries [5].
RESNA Annual Conference; 2021
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Catherine Holloway, Dafne Zuleima Morgado Ramirez, Tigmanshu Bhatnagar, Ben Oldfrey, Priya Morjaria, Soikat Ghosh Moulic, Ikenna D. Ebuenyi, Giulia Barbareschi, Fiona Meeks, Jessica Massie, Felipe Ramos-Barajas, Joanne McVeigh, Kyle Keane, George Torrens, P. V.M. Rao, Malcolm MacLachlan, Victoria Austin, Rainer Kattel, Cheryl D Metcalf & Srinivasan Sujatha
It is essential to understand the strategies and processes which are deployed currently across the Assistive Technology (AT) space toward measuring innovation. The main aim of this paper is to identify functional innovation strategies and processes which are being or can be deployed in the AT space to increase access to AT globally.
Assistive Technology The Official Journal of RESNA
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Themes
Giulia Barbareschi & Tom Shakespeare
Assistive products (APs) are broadly defined as “any product (including devices, equipment, instruments, and software), either specially designed and produced or generally available, whose primary purpose is to maintain or improve an individual’s functioning and independence and thereby promote their wellbeing” (Khasnabis et al., 2015). Although the concept of wellbeing is extremely slippery and researchers have yet to agree on a single definition for it, as individuals we instinctively develop mental models about what does, and does not, promote our happiness and wellbeing. Considerations about values, wellbeing and happiness are extremely personal and are shaped by a variety of factors ranging from our age and socio-cultural background to our life experiences (Schwartz & Bardi, 2001).
RESNA
Type
Themes
Research Group
B Oldfrey, A Tchorzewska, R Jackson, M Croysdale, R Loureiro, C Holloway, M Miodownik
Elastomeric liners are commonly worn between socket and limb by prosthetic wearers. This is due to their superior skin adhesion, load distribution and their ability to form a seal. Laboratory tests suggest that elastomeric liners allow reduced shear stress on the skin and give a higher cushioning effect on bony prominences, since they are soft in compression, and similar to biological tissues [1]. However, they also increase perspiration reducing hygiene and increasing skin irritations. Prosthetic users in general face a myriad of dermatological problems associated with lower limb prosthesis such as ulcers, cysts, and contact dermatitis, which are exacerbated by the closed environment of a fitted socket where perspiration is trapped and bacteria can proliferate [2].
Medical Engineering & Physics; 2021
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Themes
Margaret Savage, Sarah Albala, Frederic Seghers, Rainer Katte, Cynthia Liao, Mathilde Chaudron, Novia Afdhila
Development outcomes are inextricably linked to the health of the marketplace that delivers products and services to people in low- and middle- income countries (LMIC). Shortcomings in the market for assistive technology (AT) contribute to low access in LMIC. Market shaping is aimed at improving a market’s specific outcomes, such as access to high quality, affordable AT, by targeting the root causes of these shortcomings. The paper summarizes the findings of a market and sector analysis that was conducted under the UK aid funded AT2030 programme and aims to discuss how market shaping can help more people gain access to the AT that they need and what are the best mechanisms to unlock markets and commercial opportunity in LMICs.
Assistive Technology The Official Journal of RESNA; 2021
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Research Group
This year (2022) has seen the publication of the World’s first Global Report on Assistive Technology (GReAT) [1]. This completes almost a decade of work to ensure assistive technology (AT) access is a core development issue. The lack of access to assistive products (APs), such as wheelchairs, hearing aids, and eyeglasses, as well as less well-referenced products such as incontinence pads, mobile phone applications, or walking sticks, affects as many as 2.5 billion people globally. Furthermore, the provision of APs would reap a 1:9 return on investment [2]. This could result in a family in need netting (or living without) over GBP 100,000 in their lifetime [2] or more, if we count dynamic overspills in the economy such as employment of assistive technology services and manufacturing of devices [3].
Societies; 2021
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Jamie Danemayer, Sophie Mitra, Cathy Holloway, Shereen Hussein
A person’s access to assistive products such as hearing aids, wheelchairs, and glasses, is an essential part of their ability to age in a healthy way. But, according to the World Health Organization, a staggering 90% of people who need assistive products worldwide, do not have access to them. In many instances access is limited or simply non-existent. This is often due to assistive products being too expensive, demand outweighing supply, not always being suitable to use in different environments, or even the lack of availability of trained providers. In such circumstances, people are more likely to age ‘unhealthily’ if they do not have access to assistive products that are designed to support their day to day functioning and independence.
International Journal of Population Data Science; 2023
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Themes
Vicki Austin, Dilisha Patel, Jamie Danemayer, Kate Mattick, Anna Landre, Marketa Smitova, Maryam Bandukda, Aoife Healy, Nachiappan Chockalingam, Diane Bell, Cathy Holloway
This report was prepared by Global Disability Innovation (GDI) Hub for the Disability Unit in the Cabinet Office His Majesty’s Government (HMG). The report presents findings from a Country Capacity Assessment (CCA) of AT access in England. Findings illustrate a complex state of AT in England. While delivery systems tend to provide quality products that have a strong, positive impact on people’s lives, processes are often slow and stressful for users and providers alike. Startlingly, there is also an AT access gap of 31% of disabled people not having the assistive products they need to flourish, thrive, or even participate in daily life.
The Cabinet Office; 2023
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Research Group
Jamie Danemayer & Myung-Joon Lim
Korea is a rapidly ageing country, with its population over 65 years old increasing from 5% in 1990 to 17% in 2021. Comparatively, the global population over 65 has increased from 6% in 1990 to 9% in 2019 ]. As populations age and functional difficulties become more prevalent, the importance of assistive technology (AT) provision becomes more pronounced. Disparities in access to AT within a population can indicate inequities in healthy aging trajectories that will widen as the overall population ages, if clusters of limited access are not identified and addressed.
Taylor & Francis Online; 2023
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Emma M Smith, Maria Luisa Toro Hernandez, Ikenna D Ebuenyi, Elena V Syurina, Giulia Barbareschi, Krista L Best, Jamie Danemayer, Ben Oldfrey, Nuha Ibrahim, Catherine Holloway, Malcolm MacLachlan
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted all segments of society, but it has posed particular challenges for the inclusion of persons with disabilities, those with chronic illness and older people regarding their participation in daily life. These groups often benefit from assistive technology (AT) and so it is important to understand how use of AT may be affected by or may help to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. Objective: The objectives of this study were to explore the how AT use and provision have been affected during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how AT policies and systems may be made more resilient based on lessons learned during this global crisis.
International Journal of Health Policy and Management; 2020
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Research Group
Nusrat Jahan and Catherine Holloway
This working paper was developed to support the development of challenge statements for a GDI Hub innovation challenge fund call related to improving access to and retention of employment for persons with disabilities in Kenya and Bangladesh and is written by GDI Hub's Nusrat Jahan and Professor Catherine Holloway.
The issue of disability and employment has taken centre stage on the global arena in part because it is recognised across several areas of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in which confrontation of extreme poverty in its many manifestations is the number one goal [2]. The World Health Organization (2011) reports about 15 percent of the world’s population has a disability [1]. In developing countries, 80 to 90 percent of people with disabilities of working age are unemployed.
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Giulia Barbareschi, Ben Oldfrey, Long Xin, Grace N. Magomere, Wyclife A. Wetende, Carol Wanjira, Joyce Olenja, Victoria Austin, and Catherine Holloway
The World Health Organisation estimate that there are approximately a billion people with disabilities who require access to appropriate assistive technology and this number is set to double by 2050 [82]. Assistive technologies (ATs) play a crucial role in the lives of people with disabilities and are necessary to be able to access essential services and participate in family and community life according to one’s aspirations [40, 62, 68, 81]. Although this is not often specifcally mentioned, the large majority of people with disabilities will routinely use more than one assistive device in their everyday lives [25, 26]. For example a person with a visual impairment is likely to use a white cane to navigate from their house to the office where they work and have a screen-reader, or an equivalent accessibility software, on their computer to be able to do their work once in the office [17].
ASSETS '20: Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility; 2020