Survey of Needs for Assistive and Medical Devices for Older People in Six Countries of the WHO Western Pacific Region
WHO Kobe Centre prepared the report of a survey of needs for assistive and medical devices for older people in six countries of the Western Pacific Region: China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and Viet Nam. The survey was commissioned to Motivation Australia and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons by WHO.
Innovations in health technologies, and associated health and social delivery systems, are critical to preventing and managing functional and cognitive decline that older populations increasingly experience, as well as to reduce long-term institutionalization.
The research identifies priority assistive and medical devices for older people, provides a better understanding of contributing factors for their availability and proposes approaches to improve access to high quality assistive and medical devices at an affordable cost in high-income and middle-income countries.