Assistive Devices May Reduce Need for Help
November 17, 2009 - Reports & Studies
Surveys show declines since the 1990’s in the need for help with personal care, such as bathing and toileting, among people who required long-term services and supports. There is an increased use of equipment called assistive devices, making possible a decline in personal help. “Research provides evidence that assistive devices may substitute for human assistance under some circumstances, although the full scope and implications of such substitution is not yet known,” according to this federal government study issued in September 2005 titled, “Assistive Device Use Among the Elderly: trends, Characteristics of Users and Implications for Modeling.”
“If equipment use reduces or removes the need for help from other persons, it may reduce the demands of disability care on both families and public programs, and increase independence and quality of life for elders with disabilities and may have other desirable outcomes,” said the report, prepared by the Urban Institute, the Office of Disability, Aging and Long-term Care Policy, in the office of Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services.