Go to previous article
Go to next article
Return to 2000 Table of Contents
Dr. Marti Riemer-Reiss, Assistant Professor
Montana State University-Billings
1500 North 30th Street
Billings, MT 59101
Assistive technology devices enable individuals with
disabilities to participate in society as contributing
community members. These devices have also been credited with
helping individuals with disabilities achieve optimal
functional ability and independence (Phillips & Zhao,
1993). According to the National Center for Health Statistics,
more than 13.1 million Americans used an assistive technology
device in 1990 to accommodate for a physical impairment
(LaPlante, Hendershot, & Moss, 1992).
Although technology benefits many people, there are also many
people who are dissatisfied with their devices. Dissatisfaction
typically results in discontinuance of assistive technology
devices. A national survey on technology abandonment found that
almost one-third (29.3%) of all the devices previously used
were completely abandoned (Phillips & Zhao, 1993).
Discontinuance of assistive technology represents a waste of
time, money, freedom and functioning of individuals with
disabilities.
There is however, limited research documenting factors related
to assistive technology discontinuance from consumers’
perspectives. It is important to gain an understanding of these
factors to aid professionals in designing techniques of
assistive technology service delivery. The purpose of this
study was to determine the factors that were associated with
discontinuance of assistive technology by individuals in the
state of Colorado who received assistive technology through
Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities
("Tech Act") grant funding.
The "Tech Act" is the most significant piece of federal
legislation regarding assistive technology. It is the first
federal legislation that specifically addressed the expansion
of the availability of assistive technology devices and
services. This act was designed to encourage the development of
consumer responsive, statewide services focusing on flexible
and effective funding strategies to meet the needs of
individuals with disabilities (Cook & Hussey, 1995).
The current study examined the independent variables (relative
advantage, support, consumer involvement, trialability, changes
in consumers, re-invention and compatibility) to determine if
they were associated with assistive technology device
discontinuance among individuals with disabilities. The sample
was comprised of 115 individuals with disabilities who were
selected to receive funding for 136 assistive technology
devices and agreed to participate.
The majority of the individuals reported receiving one
assistive technology device (72.8%), however 16% reported
receiving two devices and 11% received three devices. Each
device was analyzed as an individual case as the consumers who
received more than one device treated the devices differently.
Assistive technology devices went to 71 males and 65 females.
Many of the devices were provided to individuals under 20
(30.1%), however devices were funded for individuals of all age
categories up to and including individuals over the age of 70.
Individuals with physical disabilities accounted for the
highest number of recipients (30.9%) followed by cerebral palsy
(24.3%) and visual impairments (21.3%). The education level of
the people who received funding for devices ranged from less
than high school degrees (38.2%) to doctorate degrees (7.4%).
Overall, 27.2% of the adults who received funding were employed
and 43.4% were not employed at the time of the interview.
Individuals with disabilities received devices ranging from
"high tech" devices such as personal computers and
communication devices to "low tech" devices such as canes and
reachers. The three devices received by the most individuals
were computers (21%), followed by communication devices (16%),
and adapted software (7%).
The assistive technology devices that were discontinued and
not replaced by an updated version made up 32.4% of the sample.
In response to the amount of time recipients used their
technology prior to discontinuing its use, the modal response
was one to three years (46.7%), however, 6.4% of the devices
were never used and 3.2% were used over 6 years.
Analysis of the results suggests that the variables of
relative advantage and consumer involvement have a significant
influence in predicting assistive technology discontinuance.
This finding is consistent with the literature on assistive
technology. Consumers who do not believe that they are involved
in the selection of their assistive technology devices, are
more likely to discontinue using them than individuals who feel
involved (Carroll & Phillips, 1993; Freeman & Field,
1994; Phillips & Broadnax, 1992; Tewey, Barnicle, &
Perr, 1994; Turner, et al., 1995). Likewise, Batavia and Hammer
(1990) found that a focus group of individuals with
disabilities identified components of the variable relative
advantage as priorities to evaluate when selecting assistive
technology.
These results suggest that assessment practices for assistive
technology should concentrate on involving the consumer in all
aspects of decision making. Additionally assistive technology
devices prescribed must offer consumers more advantage than the
burden involved in their use. Therefore, careful evaluations to
determine the costs and benefits of using assistive technology
from the consumer’s perspective are crucial to avoid
future discontinuance of assistive technology.
Many individuals involved in this study did receive increased
access to and ownership of assistive technology devices. The 10
agencies that participated in this study reported providing
funding for devices to 205 individuals with disabilities across
the state of Colorado. The 115 individuals that participated in
this study received a total of 136 devices. The assistive
technology devices analyzed in this research were disseminated
from four to eight years prior to data collection. The fact
that 68% of the devices were still in use (or updated) four to
eight years later, reveals that the individuals with
disabilities who gained access to technology through this
project integrated the technology into their activities of
daily living.
Go to previous article
Go to next article
Return to 2000 Table of Contents
Return to Table of
Proceedings