 |
| Sense report launch |
Assistive technology developers and service providers
need to do more to meet the diverse needs of the rising number of older people
with both hearing and sight problems, according to a new report launched at the
University of Sheffield today.
The study - Keeping in Touch with Technology? - was commissioned in 2014
by Sense, the national charity for deafblind people, to explore the experiences
of older people using telecare and assistive technology. Growing numbers of
people with sight and hearing problems are living in the community and seven in
ten of those are aged over 70. By 2030, the UK is likely to have 570,000 people
with hearing and sight problems, including 418,000 people over 70 and 245,000
people with severe impairments.
Professor Sue Yeandle, Director of the Centre for International Research
on Care, Labour and Equalities (CIRCLE) at the University of Sheffield, and an
academic of our wider CATCH network, led the study with the Universities of
Leeds and Oxford. The report will be launched during an event attended by former Home
Secretary the Rt Hon Lord Blunkett.
Professor Yeandle said: “Huge strides have been made in technologies
which can help people with sight, hearing and other difficulties communicate
with others and live well and independently. But too few of the growing number
who could benefit get this equipment – and many of them lack items designed
with their needs and lifestyles in mind, or don’t get the follow-up support
needed to use them.”
No comments:
Post a Comment