Facilitators and Barriers to Using Alternative and Augmentative Communication Systems by Aphasic: Therapists Perceptions

Exploring the barriers to using assistive technology for individuals with chronic conditions: a meta-synthesis review

“…Users remarked that the ease of use of devices was a barrier to the on-going use of assistive technology. Users wanted devices that were simple to use and operate [49,[51][52][53]55,57,58,[61][62][63]67,69,73,74,76,[78][79][80]82,83,85]. The ease of set-up of their assistive technology for example how difficult or how much of a 'hassle' a device was to set-up would influence the users decision to use assistive technology [55,58,61,62,73,76,85].…”

“…Another barrier with the design of assistive technology related to the lack of customisation to the end user needs. Both users and prescribers described how a universal design or one size fits all approach to assistive technology design was not appropriate to cover the individual needs and circumstances of each user [49,51,54,55,57,[60][61][62][63]72,73,[78][79][80][81]85,87]. Another sub-theme that restricts usage of assistive technology was if the device was inappropriate for the intended population.…”

“…Users felt that devices were too difficult or too childish for older adults to use as they were not designed with older users in mind. Additionally if the device function did not adequately compensate for the limitation, then it was not appropriate for the population being used on [49,51,66,80]. A lack of user and therapist involvement in the design process for assistive technologies was another barrier.…”

“…Another theme relating to the support network was the consequence of a lack of engagement and inclusion of family and carer's to support the user during the prescription, issuing and training of the assistive technology. If the family and carers did not "buy into the idea" of the assistive technology, then users lacked the required support to use and become familiar with the assistive technology for more independent use [37,49,53,54,57,64,66,69,75,76,80,[82][83][84][85]. Users also wanted to learn about how to use assistive technology from those with similar conditions who knew what it was like to use the assistive technology through a peer support environment instead of being given information by therapists and equipment suppliers.…”

“…reliability refers to if the device was able perform consistently its intended function. Poor reliability, such as devices giving false notifications or being inconsistent in performing a function, led to low confidence in the performance of the device and abandonment of the assistive technology[49][50][51]55,62,65,66,69,71,73,76,[78][79][80]85]. The quality of the device was also a barrier that was identified by users.…”