WHO – Global Priority Research Agenda on assistive technology

On March 7th 2017 the World Health Organization has published the Global priority research agenda for improving access to high-quality affordable Assistive Technology, for the development of which AAATE had an important role. Towards the development the Global priority research agenda on AT, WHO established a core group and called for a GATE Research Group meeting in Budapest in September 2015, where the AAATE2015 conference took place. The core group members are experts from the Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe (AAATE), the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA), Zuyd University of Applied Science, and Trinity College Dublin.

The agenda highlights 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.

 

as well as two guiding principles that should inform assistive technology research:

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.

 The document can be downloaded from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/254660/1/WHO-EMP-IAU-2017.02-eng.pdf