Assistive Technology versus Assistive Devices

Article by: The Relief Shop Medical Supplies Team

Assistive technology products and assistive devices involve five areas ...

There doesn't seem to be a lot of difference between assistive devices and assistive technology. In fact, assistive devices have been placed as a category of assistive technology but most people interchange the terms. Both describe implements and equipment that have been designed or adapted to replace, increase or maintain an individual’s ability to perform a task or activity.

Assistive technology products involve five areas. The first is personal emergency response systems like thermometers for hypothermia risk, fall detectors and unlit gas sensors. The second area is computer input with ergonomic computer accessories, speech recognition, sip-and-puff and eye-trackers; all of which allow a user to input data into a computer.

The third area is durable medical equipment. This is the area that The Relief Shop Medical Supplies has a focus on with products like mobility aids (canes, wheelchairs, rollators, ramps), bedroom aids (dressing aids, bed rails, reachers), bathroom aids (bathtub grab bars, shower chairs, raised toilet seats), hearing and low vision aids (talking calculators and alarms) and general independent living aids.

The fourth assistive technology area includes software and tools for learning difficulties. The other areas cover visual impairment, augmentative and alternative communication, deafness and hearing loss, and a category for “others”.

Some feel that assistive technology is more advanced than mere assistive devices and there should be more of a distinction between the two. An example of assistive technology would be the technology behind allowing an individual to move the mouse on his computer by eye-tracking versus an assistive device such as a shower chair.

This is something to think about. Should the categories be thought of as the same?