Can simple household assistive products enhance the self-care of health and well-being?

Purpose The ageing population is a global phenomenon that is occurring in many countries around the world, including the UK. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the proportion of the UK population aged 65 years and over is projected to increase, reaching 25% by 2045. This increase will have a significant impact on a range of social and economic issues. One of the ways to reduce this impact is to improve self-care. Design/methodology/approach The availability of simple assistive devices can facilitate physical activity and help complete daily living activities. These devices can also help in the self-management of long-term health and well-being. To encourage self-care, it is essential to create awareness about these assistive products. Simple assistive products such as shoe horns, magnifying glasses or a sphygmomanometer that are readily available to buy from shops were grouped into four boxes or kits. The authors provided these simple devices to 175 community-dwelling older adults in deprived areas and followed them up via a phone survey after 4–6 weeks. Findings The authors recorded overall positive feedback on individual products and the kit. The results indicate that there was a sense of empowerment and ability by the recipients to take control of their health and well-being and management of their health condition using items contained in the kit provided. Practical implications The study results show that simple assistive products empower older adults to self-care and can provide a positive impact on their activities of daily living. Originality/value Previous studies have shown that regular exercise can enhance both physical and mental abilities and reverse certain chronic health issues. Simple household devices can aid in increasing physical activity. This work highlights how these devices enable older adults to take care of themselves, with a focus on capturing their personal perspectives and experiences

A low‐cost field ventilator: An urgent global need

Modern ventilators are increasingly compact and able to deliver a wide range of ventilator modes and sophisticated monitoring capabilities. However, the global availability of ventilators is woefully short of demand. Data on intensive care units (ICUs), a proxy measure for hospital ventilator capacity in low and middle-income countries (LMIC's), suggest that capacity is extremely limited where it exists at all. In LMIC's, the four most common indications for mechanical ventilation (MV) in ICUs are post-surgical care, sepsis, trauma, and maternal peripartum or neonatal complications. A significant majority of these cases can be managed with intervention involving a short course of MV. Widespread and timely access to MV can thus effectively be used to help patients in these settings and improve outcomes. This paper implores this need and highlights the requirements for a low-cost ventilator or a respiratory support device

Global perspectives on assistive technology : proceedings of the GReAT Consultation 2019

Whilst diabetes is a growing global health problem, diabetic foot disease is one of the most expensive complications of diabetes leading to significant morbidity and mortality in the adult population. Previous research has clearly highlighted the limitations of currently available diabetic foot screening guidelines; which aim to identify patients at risk of foot complications, such as ulcerations and amputations, and who therefore may require mobility assistive devices. Also, there are differences between screening guideline recommendations at the national level and this contributes to the differences in national diabetic foot disease outcomes and associated burden. There is also a lack of high quality evidence on which these guidelines are based which is responsible for the current gaps between guidelines, standard clinical practice, and development of complications. Whilst indicating that diabetes is associated with a clear increase in the risk of physical disability, studies have called for efforts to promote healthy ageing and strategies for mitigating this risk through prevention and management. In addition, reports showcase that diabetes related lower extremity complications are one of the leading causative factors in the global burden of disability. This study focussed on publicly available datasets to retrieve relevant information relating to physical disability as a result of diabetes. It also examined the national guidelines for screening and their relationship to global guidelines. Whilst publicly available datasets highlight and host up to date information on the global burden of the diabetes, it has little or no information relating to the complications resulting from diabetes and in particular no data on amputations or mobility related assistive devices. There is a clear need for collecting structured data during screening at a primary care level. This, in addition to helping to reduce the complications of the disease will help to understand the assistive technology needs of these patients.peer-reviewe