Relevance of assistive technology and the sustainable development goals to stakeholder organizations in Malawi.

Assistive technologies are critical to supporting the participation and engagement of persons with disabilities and others who experience functional difficulties in daily life. Assistive products have been demonstrated to be related to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); however, no previous research has explored the relationship between assistive technology (AT) and the SDGs from the perspective of stakeholder organisations working in the field of AT provision. In this study, we evaluated the relevance of AT and the SDGs to achieving the organisational missions of key stakeholders in AT ecosystem in Malawi. Key stakeholders (n = 36) in the AT field in Malawi were asked to rate the relevance of AT to achieving their organisational missions, and the relevance of AT to each of the 17 SDGs on a 5-point Likert scale. Stakeholders who participated were engaged in consultative meetings with the government and an action research team as part of a larger policy development project, and represented ministries and government agencies, organisations of persons with disabilities, and local and international non-governmental organisations. AT was rated as being relevant to all of the SDGs, albeit to varying degrees, and not surprisingly to achieving AT stakeholders' organisational missions. The cross-cutting nature of the relevance of AT underscores the importance of cross-ministerial cooperation and shared leadership in provision AT.

Perceptions on Extending the Use of Technology after the COVID-19 Pandemic Resolves: A Qualitative Study with Older Adults.

The COVID-19 pandemic of the last two years has affected the lives of many individuals, especially the most vulnerable and at-risk population groups, e.g., older adults. While social distancing and isolation are shown to be effective at decreasing the transmission of the virus, these actions have also increased loneliness and social isolation. To combat social distancing from family and friends, older adults have turned to technology for help. In the health sector, these individuals also had a variety of options that strengthened eHealth care services. This study analyzed the technologies used during the COVID-19 pandemic by a group of older people, as well as explored their expectations of use after the pandemic period. Qualitative and ethnographic interviews were conducted with 10 Portuguese older adults, and data were collected over a period of seven months between 2020 and 2021. The research demonstrated that the use of current and new technologies in the post-pandemic future is likely to be related to overcoming: (i) insecurity regarding privacy issues; (ii) difficulties in using technologies due to the level of use of digital technology; and (iii) the human distancing and impersonal consequences of using these technologies.

COVID-19 IDD: Findings from a global survey exploring family members' and paid staff's perceptions of the impact of COVID-19 on individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their caregivers.

Background: A growing body of evidence attests to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) during the pandemic. This study asked caregivers about their perceptions of how COVID-19 impacted them and the people they support. Method: An online survey was conducted in 12 countries during August-September 2020 and sought information on demographics, support practices, information and training, experiences of COVID-19, social distancing, and wellbeing, as measured by the DASS12. This study reports on 3,754 family members, direct support professionals, and managers who participated in the survey. Results: Caregivers observed increases in depression/anxiety, stereotyped behaviours, aggression towards others and weight gain in the person(s) they supported. They also reported difficulties supporting the person(s) to access healthcare.  Families reported reducing or ceasing employment and absorbed additional costs when supporting their family member. Direct support professionals experienced changes in staff shifts, staff absences, increased workload and hiring of casual staff. Caregivers' wellbeing revealed high levels of stress, depression, and less so anxiety. The strongest predictor of wellbeing among families was observation of changes in mood in the person(s) they supported, while for direct support professionals, the strongest predictors of wellbeing were reorganisation of staff shifts and increases in new direct support staff.  Discussion: Findings support the contention of this population experiencing a disproportionate burden during the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting historical inequities in access to healthcare and other human rights violations which are now protected under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

COVID-19 IDD: A global survey exploring family members' and paid staff's perceptions of the impact of COVID-19 on individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their caregivers.

Background: This protocol outlines research to explore the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on individuals who have intellectual and developmental disabilities and their caregivers. Evidence suggests that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities experience disparities in healthcare access and utilisation. This disparity was evident early in the pandemic when discussions arose regarding the potential exclusion of this population to critical care. Methods: An anonymous online survey will be conducted with caregivers, both family members and paid staff, to explore the impact of COVID-19 on this population in terms of demographics, living arrangements, access to services, the impact of social distancing, and also carer wellbeing. The survey will be developed by the research team, many of whom are experts in intellectual disability within their own jurisdictions. Using back-translation our team will translate the survey for distribution in 16 countries worldwide for international comparison. The survey team have extensive personal and professional networks in intellectual disability and will promote the survey widely on social media with the support of local disability and advocacy agencies. Statistical descriptive and comparative analyses will be conducted. Ethical approval has been obtained for this study from University College Dublin's Human Research Ethics Committee (HS-20-28-Linehan). Dissemination: Study findings will be prepared in a number of formats in order to meet the needs of different audiences. Outputs will include academic papers, lessons learned paper, practice guidelines, reports, infographics and video content. These outputs will be directed to families, frontline and management delivering disability services, national-level policy makers, healthcare quality and delivery authorities, national pandemic organisations and international bodies.

Learning from doing the EquitAble project: Content, context, process, and impact of a multi-country research project on vulnerable populations in Africa.

BACKGROUND: The 'EquitAble' project carried out content analyses of policies and collected and analysed qualitative and quantitative data concerning access to health services in Sudan, Malawi, Namibia and South Africa. Our particular concern was to address the situation of people with disabilities, although not in isolation from other marginalised or vulnerable groups. OBJECTIVES: This article reports on the content, context, process and impact of project EquitAble, funded by the European Commission Seventh Research Framework Programme, which brought together researchers from Ireland, Norway, South Africa, Namibia, Sudan and Malawi. METHOD: After the 4-year project ended in February 2013, all members of the consortium were asked to anonymously complete a bespoke questionnaire designed by the coordinating team. The purpose of the questionnaire was to capture the views of those who collaborated on the research project in relation to issues of content, context, process and impact of the EquitAble project. RESULTS: Our results indicated some of the successes and challenges encountered by our consortium. CONCLUSION: We identified contextual and process learning points, factors often not discussed in papers, which typically focus on the reporting of the 'content' of results.