Overview of assistive products

In this Step, Emma Tebbutt, Guilia Oggero and Chapal Khasnabis from World Health Organization’s GATE team, provide an overview of assistive products and present the WHO Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology (GATE) initiative.

First, they define assistive products and assistive technology and then illustrate the need for assistive products given the estimated increase in population and changing needs of populations. They emphasize that assistive products are essential for many people to have good health and well-being and achievement of most of the SDGs.

They provide examples of assistive products and highlight barriers to access. The presentation concludes with an introduction to the GATE initiative and discussing the WHO Priority Assistive Products List (APL) and WHO’s ‘6P’ framework.

What experiences do you and/or friends and family members have with assistive products? Share your experiences in the comments area below.