The future of Assistive Technology services in the United Kingdom

Issue title: Bringing AT Professionals Together

Guest editors: Jane Seale and Alan Turner-Smith

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Stead, Ann

Affiliations: Director of Disability Services, Oxford Centre for Enablement, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust, Headington, Oxford OX3 7LD, UK. Tel.: +44 01865 891174; Fax: +44 01865 227463; E-mail: stead_ann@hotmail.com

Abstract: This paper will attempt to describe what Assistive Technology (AT) means and where AT services in the UK are now. It will also try to predict where they are going in the future by examining the drivers and pressures for change. As a result of the way in which services have evolved in the UK, the scope of this paper is largely limited to AT for people with physical and complex impairments. However it recognises that the current configuration of services does not reflect the most effective means of service delivery. It pays particular attention to the need for continuity of support and highlights some of the difficulties presented by the current arrangement of services and questions their ability to enable disabled people to achieve social inclusion.

DOI: 10.3233/TAD-2002-14402

Journal: Technology and Disability, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 149-156, 2002