Berardi, Anna and Smith, Emma M. and Miller, William C. (2021) Assistive technology use and unmet need in Canada. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 16 (8). pp. 851-856. ISSN 1748-3107

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Abstract

Background: Around the world, variations and inequities in access to assistive technology (AT) are evident. Development of legislation, policies, and programmes has not kept pace with the increasing demand for AT. Therefore, context-specific needs assessment is required, which can assist in anticipating the accessibility and human support needs of individuals with impairments, and in turn, inform resource allocation and prioritisation of services. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to describe the cur-rent use and unmet needs of AT use in community-dwelling Canadians experiencing activity limitation or participation restriction (disability).Data and methods: Bootstrapping was used to estimate the prevalence of AT use and unmet needs using data from the 2012 Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD). The total sample size for the CSD was45,443 individuals. Results: Among the estimated 3,775,920 Canadians with a disability (13.7% of the Canadian population),3,579,580 used some form of AT. Among these individuals, 3,050,750 use glasses or contact lenses and1,109,060 use bathroom aids. The results of the study showed that the most common unmet need was for hearing aids (0.86% of the total population), followed by bathroom aids (0.36%).Interpretations: This study comes at a time when global attention is focused on research on access to AT. This study using data from the CSD will serve disability and social policy analysts at all levels of government, as well as associations for persons with disabilities and researchers working in the field of dis-ability policy and programmes.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	assistive devices; Canadian; estimation; population; unmet needs;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
Item ID:	18672
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2020.1741703
Depositing User:	Emma Smith
Date Deposited:	20 Jun 2024 09:43
Journal or Publication Title:	Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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