ATscale’s vision is to ensure every person can access and afford the assistive technology (AT) they need, enabling a lifetime of potential. ATscale’s mission is to catalyze action, amplify existing work, and coordinate and mobilize global stakeholders with unified strategies to increase availability of and access to AT. This symposium will reflect on lessons learned by ATscale in investing in catalyzing change. Opportunities to collaborate on current projects will be detailed and insights shared to help others seeking to initiate change and promote evolution in the prosthetics, orthotics, wheelchair and AT spaces.
This includes a future implementation research project, to explore the barriers and opportunities for translating prosthetic related research and development into implementable solutions for affordable and high-quality lower limb prostheses in low- and middle-income countries. This project will examine novel fitting technologies, components and the service delivery system through an implementation research lens.
A second project to develop guidance on local wheelchair production, repair and reuse models along with the integration of wheelchair services into the health system will follow. There will also be an overview of ATscale's work on humanitarian preparedness, including a recent large-scale logistics initiative within the UN humanitarian system along with logistics and supply chain management reflections. An update on the LEAD and COMPASS pilot will follow, including the development of a custom app for data collection and opportunities for collaboration as possible pilot sites. Finally, an update of national system investments and opportunities for AT sector transformation will be presented.
Statement of the objective / learning objectives
To share the scope of ATscale’s work portfolio, possibilities for collaboration and key learnings in creating systems change to improve access for people in need of lower limb prosthetics, orthoses, wheelchairs and other assistive technology.
