Wednesday 22 March 2017

World Health Organisation releases global priority research agenda for assistive technology

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently published the global priority research agenda for improving access to high-quality affordable assistive technology.




Representing the Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe (AAATE) as the largest professional assistive technology organisation in the region, CATCH’s Professor Luc de Witte was part of the core group who drafted this brief which can be downloaded here.


In the paper, it is outlined what the WHO did to create priorities and promote research and innovation in this vital area. Through this activity, the group identified five global priority research thematic areas as essential to improving access to high quality, affordable assistive technology:
  1. Effects, costs and economic impact of assistive technology.
  2. Assistive technology policies, systems, service provision models and best practices.
  3. High-quality and affordable assistive technology.
  4. Human resources for the assistive technology sector.
  5. Standards and methodologies for the assessment of assistive technology need and unmet need.


They also propose two guiding principles for any assistive technology-related research activities:
  1. User involvement in all aspects of research, especially on policy and service provision.
  2. Work from a social and environmental model of disability and participation.


You can download and read the full document here.

For more information on how CATCH’s activities align with this research agenda, please contact Laura Murray.

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