Assisting Living and Learning Institute, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland.
Independent Researcher, Madrid, Spain.
Int J Health Policy Manag. 2022 Jun 1;11(6):747-756. doi: 10.34172/ijhpm.2020.210.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted all segments of society, but it has posed particular challenges for the inclusion of persons with disabilities, those with chronic illness and older people regarding their participation in daily life. These groups often benefit from assistive technology (AT) and so it is important to understand how use of AT may be affected by or may help to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. The objectives of this study were to explore the how AT use and provision have been affected during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how AT policies and systems may be made more resilient based on lessons learned during this global crisis.
This study was a rapid, international online qualitative survey in the 6 United Nations (UN) languages (English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese) facilitated by extant World Health Organization (WHO) and International Disability Alliance networks. Themes and subthemes of the qualitative responses were identified using Braun and Clarke's 6-phase analysis.
Four primary themes were identified in in the data: Disruption of Services, Insufficient Emergency Preparedness, Limitations in Existing Technology, and Inadequate Policies and Systems. Subthemes were identified within each theme, including subthemes related to developing resilience in AT systems, based on learning from the pandemic.
COVID-19 has disrupted the delivery of AT services, primarily due to infection control measures resulting in lack of provider availability and diminished one-to-one services. This study identified a need for stronger user-centred development of funding policies and infrastructures that are more sustainable and resilient, best practices for remote service delivery, robust and accessible tools and systems, and increased capacity of clients, caregivers, and clinicians to respond to pandemic and other crisis situations.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行影响了社会的各个阶层，但它给包括残疾人士、慢性病患者和老年人在内的人参与日常生活带来了特殊挑战。这些群体通常受益于辅助技术（AT），因此了解 AT 的使用情况如何受到 COVID-19 的影响，或者如何帮助减轻其影响非常重要。本研究的目的是探讨 COVID-19 大流行初期 AT 的使用和供应情况如何受到影响，以及如何根据这一全球危机期间的经验教训，使 AT 政策和系统更具弹性。
本研究是一项在联合国（UN）六种语言（英语、法语、西班牙语、俄语、阿拉伯语、简体中文）下进行的快速国际在线定性调查，由世界卫生组织（WHO）和国际残疾人联盟现有的网络协助完成。使用 Braun 和 Clarke 的 6 阶段分析法确定定性反应的主题和子主题。
在数据中确定了四个主要主题：服务中断、应急准备不足、现有技术的局限性以及政策和系统的不足。在每个主题中都确定了子主题，包括与基于从大流行中学习发展 AT 系统的弹性相关的子主题。
COVID-19 扰乱了 AT 服务的提供，主要是由于感染控制措施导致提供者可用性降低和一对一服务减少。本研究确定了需要更强有力的以用户为中心的资金政策和基础设施的发展，这些政策和基础设施更加可持续和有弹性，需要制定远程服务提供的最佳实践，开发强大且可访问的工具和系统，并提高客户、护理人员和临床医生应对大流行和其他危机情况的能力。
