Dr. Alan Jette, professor of health law, policy & management at Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH), chaired a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee analyzing the use and effectiveness of assistive products and technologies: the Committee on the Use of Selected Assistive Products and Technologies in Eliminating or Reducing the Effects of Impairments.

[Photo: Dr. Alan Jette]

The committee published its report, The Promise of Assistive Technology to Enhance Activity and Work Participation, on May 9.

The report discusses how adults use selected assistive products and technologies, from wheelchairs and prostheses to hearing and speech devices, and how effective they are for enabling people with disabilities to work. The report also looks at how environmental and personal factors can create additional barriers to employment. Only 41 percent of working-age individuals with a disability reported being employed in the 2010 census, compared to 79 percent without a disability.

The report “presents a sobering picture of the challenge our society faces in fulfilling the promise of assistive technologies in mitigating the effects of impairments,” Dr. Jette says, “and in supporting people with disabilities to remain or re-engage in the workforce.”

To read more about the honor, go to: http://www.bu.edu/sph/2017/06/02/professor-chairs-committee-on-assistive-technology/