1. Repair strategies for assistive technology in low resource settings.
- Author
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Oldfrey, Ben, Holloway, Cathy, Walker, Julian, McCormack, Steven, Deere, Bernadette, Kenney, Laurence, Ssekitoleko, Robert, Ackers, Helen, and Miodownik, Mark
- Subjects
PROSTHETICS ,AMPUTATION ,COMMUNITY health services ,WHEELCHAIRS ,INCOME ,INTERVIEWING ,ORTHOPEDIC apparatus ,ECOSYSTEMS ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,ASSISTIVE technology ,RESEARCH methodology ,ADULT education workshops ,RESOURCE-limited settings ,DEVELOPING countries ,COMPARATIVE studies ,PEOPLE with disabilities ,MEDICAL care costs - Abstract
To investigate the practices of repair that exist for users of mobility assistive products in low resource settings, as well as the psychosocial impact that the repair, or non-repair, of these devices has on users' lives. This article collates data on repair practices and the responses from participants on the topic of repair from studies conducted by the authors across four different low resource settings in Kenya, Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Indonesia. This data was then analyzed to identify the common themes found across geographies. Three major models of repair practice emerged from the data: "Individual or Informal Repair in the Community"; "Local Initiatives"; and "Specialist AT Workshop Repair". Additionally, the wider impact on the participants' lives of "Problems & Concerns with Repair"; "Experiences of Breakages & Frequencies of Repair" and the "Impact of Broken Devices" are explored. The results of this analysis demonstrate the paramount importance of community-based repair of devices, and how despite this importance, repair is often overlooked in the planning and design of assistive products and services. There is a need to further incorporate and support these informal contributions as part of the formal provision systems of assistive device. A lack of available specialist repair services in low resource settings hinders the potential impact of assistive technology provision systems. Community-based repair is the major route by which assistive devices are repaired in low resource settings. Appropriate community-based repair strategies should be incorporated into and supported by the formal assistive technology provision models in order to optimise outcomes. A lack of data on outcomes across the lifecycle of assistive products hinders progress on improving focus on follow-up services – in particular repair & maintenance. By supporting community-based repair, repairs that are inappropriate for that approach could be better directed to specialist repair services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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