Assistive Technology Access from a Health System Perspective

Dear Colleagues,

Globally, about 2.5 billion people need assistive technology. More than one billion of them do not have their needs met, leaving them behind in terms of participation in the family, community and society. In some countries, less than 3% have access to the assistive technology they need. To progressively achieve universal access to assistive technology in all countries, implementation of evidence-based policies and practices is required. Despite health systems being instrumental for assistive technology access, the knowledge base is limited.

We are pleased to invite you to submit manuscripts to this Special Issue. It aims at presenting research that contributes to the understanding of assistive technology access from the perspective of the health system as a whole or its components, for example, the WHO health system building blocks [1] or the WHO 5P model of assistive technology [2].

In this Special Issue original research is welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to):

• Systematic reviews of health systems and assistive technology access
• Cross-sectional studies of the association between health system characteristics and assistive technology access
• Longitudinal studies of how health systems affect assistive technology access
• Case studies of health systems and assistive technology access
• Implementation studies of health system policy or practice for improving assistive technology access
• Theoretical papers on health system perspectives on assistive technology access

A study on the development or evaluation of an assistive product must address access. For example, how a new design simplifies the provision and improves access by reducing required competence.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

References

[1] Figure 1 in https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/258734/9789241564052-eng.pdf

[2] Figure 1.3 in https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240049451

Dr. Johan Borg
Guest Editor

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