The past decade has witnessed a tremendous growth in wireless technologies. Mainstream wireless products such as smartphones, tablets, smart home devices, smart speakers, wearables, and remote monitors are becoming increasingly ubiquitous and hold great promise for improving health, independence, participation, and quality of life of people with disabilities. However, the impact of such technologies on people with disabilities is still limited by the lack of access to and effective use of such technologies. While the industry will continue to innovate and push more wireless products towards consumers, the advancements in technology are insufficient by themselves to bridge the gaps in wireless inclusion and engagement of people with disabilities. Wireless technology access and effective use are heavily impacted by stakeholders’ awareness and knowledge of wireless products/features available, funding opportunities, laws and policies, and the capacity of various stakeholders to provide support services. In this proposal, the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh in partnership with industry, providers, and disability organizations aim to address the multifaceted factors affecting people with disabilities to have access to and make full use of existing wireless technologies.
The vision of PROMISE is inclusion and engagement of people with disabilities for independence and participation in society through mainstream wireless technologies and technology services. Our goal is to engage all relevant stakeholders – people with disabilities, clinical and community providers, and industry to create and pilot innovative, viable, and scalable technology services to expand access to and support effective use of mainstream wireless technologies among people with varying disabilities. We will achieve the goal through three research and three development projects. The project objectives are: 1) to identify barriers and facilitators to the uptake of mainstream wireless technologies as related to health and social service funding and policies, within people with disabilities, and within clinical and community providers; 2) to develop, implement, and evaluate technology services to support access to and effective use of mobile devices, smart home devices, and smart speakers; 3) to develop informational infrastructure that helps facilitate industry and developers to develop accessible, usable, and useful wireless solutions for people with disabilities; and 4) to engage all stakeholders in wireless innovation for people with disabilities.
Anticipated outcomes include 1) actionable recommendations that could inform changes in healthcare policy and health/social services regarding mainstream wireless technologies used as assistive technologies. 2) documentations on barriers, facilitators, and needs identified by people with varying disabilities as well as different provider groups regarding wireless technology use; 3) evidence of how wireless technology access and use facilitate independence and participation of people with disabilities; and 4) evidence of how technology services could improve the access to and effective use of wireless technologies among people with varying disabilities. The expected products include 1) a mobile device assessment tool, smart home service delivery models, and smart speaker support services for different clinical and community settings; 2) a web portal and voice app that support discovery and retention of smart speaker use; 3) a web portal that connects stakeholder groups with mainstream wireless industry and developers; and 4) a number of inventions from the innovator driven initiative.