Assistive technology in developing countries

Borg, Johan; Lindström, Anna; Larsson, Stig

doi:10.1177/0309364610389351

Cited by 131 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…"Info: Vaccinations for children under 10 will be available tomorrow from [8][9][10][11][12] in the Codito sector" when a participant asked about a bacterial infection, the community clinician sent a response and also directed her to speak with a physician for further information.…”

Section: Quantitative Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Computer access provides a method of reading and writing, communication and education and with Internet access, computers can offer widespread information access and participation in the information society [7,6]. AT to access computers may include built-in universal access features or specialized technology [8]. Universal access features make computers usable by both the non-disabled population and people with disabilities, for instance, by changing a setting in the computer's operating system, repeated keystrokes can be ignored when someone who has a tremor is typing on a standard keyboard.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Computer access devices are the least common forms of AT in lower-income communities and are not reported in the literature [8]. Barriers to implementation include: limited AT production, high costs and lack of support from healthcare systems [9].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Increasing participation in the information society by people with disabilities and their families in lower-income countries using mainstream technologies

Barlott

Adams

Cook

2015

Univ Access Inf Soc

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Assistive technology (AT) has been actively researched, developed and implemented throughout higher-income countries, but is relatively absent from lowerincome countries. In lower-income countries, there is very little AT for reading, writing, communicating and for participation in the information society. In order for persons with disabilities in lower-income countries to participate fully in society, mainstream Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as mobile phones should be used as AT. This paper explores the potential for using mainstream ICTs as AT in lowerincome countries, keeping in mind current ICT trends, characteristics of the post-PC era, and ICT-based AT in higher-income countries. We conclude the paper with a case study where mobile phones and SMS were used by people with disabilities and their caregivers to access information in a resourced-limited community in Bogota, Colombia. Mobile phones, a readily available mainstream ICT in this community, were a useful tool for addressing the information exclusion of people with disabilities and caregivers.

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Section: Quantitative Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Increasing participation in the information society by people with disabilities and their families in lower-income countries using mainstream technologies

Barlott

Adams

Cook

2015

Univ Access Inf Soc

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“…For example, 60% of 1,414 disabled people reported using some form of assistive technology in their daily lives (Carlson and Ehrlich 2006) and the majority of carers of children with physical disabilities reported the use of assistive technology in the children's daily activities or routines (Kling, Campbell, and Wilcox 2010). In addition, Borg, Lindstrom, and Larsson (2011) reported that the literature on the use of assistive technology in developing countries was dominated by product-oriented research on leg prostheses and manual wheelchairs.…”

Section: Effects Of Self-help Support Groups and Assistive Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing a model of disability that focuses on the actions of disabled people

Levitt

2017

Disability & Society

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Disabled people, writers on disability and disability activists stress the importance of disabled people being included in all aspects of society. I argue that a major omission from this inclusiveness is that no current model of disability focuses on the impact of the actions of disabled people on disability. Disabled people are not passive bystanders, powerless to reduce the restrictions of disability. On the contrary, we are central to actively limiting its constraints. I develop a model of disability, called 'active' , which focuses on the effects on disability of the individual and collective actions of disabled people. I describe published findings which indicate that engaging in self-help, using support groups and deploying assistive technology can all reduce the limitations of disability. Recent increases in the number of disability support groups and developments in assistive technology have substantially augmented the potential for disabled people to combat the effects of disability. Points of interest• This article develops the active model of disability, which focuses on the impact of the actions of disabled people on disability.• These actions encompass both individual activity (e.g. self-help) and collective activity (e.g. disability activism). • This model is timely, as the recent increase in the availability of self-help information and support groups has substantially boosted the potential for disabled people to limit the constraints of their own disabilities.• This article presents published findings that engaging in self-help, using support groups and deploying assistive technology have all reduced the effects of disability. • It examines the limited role of disabled people in current models of disability and compares the active model with other models. • Moreover, it argues that both the active and social models can motivate research that improves disabled people's lives (emancipatory research).• Finally, it contends that the understanding of the complexities of disability can be facilitated, by using multiple, complementary models.

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“…States who ratified the CRPD have the obligation "to take effective measures to ensure personal mobility with the greatest possible independence for persons with disabilities" (UN, 2006). Guidelines for the delivery of assistive technology in the best possible way exist (Borg et al, 2008;Arledge et al, 2011); the current challenge is to make these assistive devices and services available to the people with disabilities in developing countries, in an accessible and affordable manner (Borg et al, 2009;Tomlinson et al, 2009;Borg et al, 2011a). The CRPD explicitly mentions the need for international technical and economical collaboration between developing and developed countries, to improve the availability of assistive technology devices and services in developing countries (Borg et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%