Perspectives of rehabilitation professionals on assistive technology provision for young children with disabilities in South Africa

Abstract

When assistive technology is selected for young children within a context with limited resources such as South Africa, research is needed to determine the factors influencing the recommendation and provision process. This is necessary as these factors could either facilitate or hinder the accessibility and availability of assistive technology that is adaptable, affordable, acceptable and high quality. The aim of this study was to identify the factors perceived by rehabilitation professionals to influence the recommendation and provision of assistive technology to young children within the South African context and to determine the extent to which these factors are perceived as influential. The study followed a sequential exploratory mixed methods design. The qualitative phase of the study consisted of a systematic review of studies identifying factors influencing assistive technology provision to children, as well as two online focus groups with South African rehabilitation professionals experienced in recommending and providing assistive technology to young children. The qualitative phase enabled the researcher to adapt an existing assistive technology selection framework for use with young children within the South African context. The adapted theoretical framework was utilised to construct a best-worst questionnaire, where participants were asked to select the items (corresponding to factors of the adapted theoretical framework) that were most and least influential on their assistive technology provision. The survey was distributed electronically and completed by 451 rehabilitation professionals throughout South Africa. Analysis of the results enabled the researcher to confirm the inclusion of the identified factors in the adapted theoretical framework and identify a rank order of factors that influence the recommendation and provision of assistive technology in South Africa, as perceived by rehabilitation professionals. Differences between the perceptions of professionals with various years of experience were explored to illustrate the influence of experience on reasoning regarding assistive technology provision.