Telemedicine is a radical paradigm of assistive technology (AT) service provision, and is channelled with potential solutions to resolve the global access crisis of over a huge population segment that need assistive products.
The combination of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, wearable devices, virtual and augmented reality, and electromyography-driven systems will offer unprecedented chances of personalized and data-driven AT provision which is not limited to facility-based care but instead community environments where people with functional impairments reside, work, and live. But to achieve this potential, there should be a conscious, concerted effort to overcome endemic challenges.
It is proposed that hybrid delivery models involving the judicious integration of both synchronous and asynchronous forms of telemedicine with opportunistic amounts of face-to-face contact provide practical solutions to different resource scenarios and user needs. With the ongoing advancements in the field of telemedicine technologies, the need is evident: innovation should be planned and introduced intentionality to minimize and prevent, instead of increase, the disparities in access to AT that already exist.
【MORE】