These technologies can help people with disabilities to perform daily activities, such as communicating with others, moving around their environment, and accessing information.

Assistive technology can have broader societal benefits, such as:

The need for assistive tech devices is already massive, and it is set to double. 

Unfortunately, even though the need is massive the majority of people do not have access to the assistive products they need. WHO estimates that only 1 in 10 people in need have access to assistive products.

Challenges

Policy

Very few countries have a national assistive technology policy or program.

In many countries, access to assistive technology in the public sector is poor or non-existent. Even in high-income countries, assistive products are often rationed or not included in health and welfare schemes, leading to high out-of-pocket payments by users and their families.

For example, it is common policy in a number of European countries for the state to provide older people with only 1 hearing aid, despite the fact that most people with age-related hearing loss require 2 hearing aids to function.

Products

The assistive products industry is currently limited and specialized, primarily serving high-income markets. There is a lack of state funding, nationwide service delivery systems, user-centered research and development, procurement systems, quality and safety standards, and context-appropriate product design.

Provision

In high-income countries, services are often stand-alone and not integrated. People are forced to attend multiple appointments at different locations, which are costly and add to the burden on users as well as caregivers, and on health and welfare budgets.

In many low- and middle-income countries, national service delivery for assistive products does not exist. Those who can afford them buy assistive products direct from a pharmacy, private clinic, or workshop.

People from the poorer sectors of society must rely on erratic donations or charity services, which often focus on delivering large quantities of low-quality or used products. These are often not appropriate for the user or the context and lack mechanisms for repair and follow-up. A similar scenario is also common in emergency response programs.

Personnel

Trained health personnel are essential for the proper prescription, fitting, user training, and follow-up of assistive products. Without these key steps, assistive products are often of no benefit or abandoned, and they may even cause physical harm (as is the case of providing wheelchairs without pressure relief cushions for people with spinal injuries).