When the Wheelchair Is Not Enough: What Capabilities Approaches Offer Assistive Technology Practice in Rural Argentina

Natasha Layton (), Silvana Contepomi, Maria del Valle Bertoni and Maria Helena Martinez Oliver
Additional contact information
Natasha Layton: Rehabilitation, Ageing and Independent Living (RAIL) Research Centre, Monash University, Frankston 3199, Australia
Silvana Contepomi: Asistiva, Buenos Aires 1642, Argentina
Maria del Valle Bertoni: Rehabilitation Department, Centro Provincial de Rehabilitacion Física de Salta, Salta 4400, Argentina
Maria Helena Martinez Oliver: Rehabilitation Department, Centro Provincial de Rehabilitacion Física de Salta, Salta 4400, Argentina

Societies, 2022, vol. 12, issue 6, 1-12

Abstract: This article considers the lives of disabled people requiring assistive technology who live in contexts of urban poverty. Provision is often constrained by a range of contextual factors which seem outside the scope of health and rehabilitation services. We critically reflect on health, rehabilitation, and capabilities approaches. We explore both rehabilitation and capabilities approaches with posture and mobility practice in an area of urban poverty in Argentina. Contrasting rehabilitation and capabilities approaches to a composite posture and mobility case provides a range of insights. Rehabilitation approaches start with the individual as the locus for intervention. Capabilities approaches reframe interventions such as posture and mobility in terms of the freedoms they offer, and highlight the barriers or capability gaps that must be addressed to achieve outcomes. We conclude that capabilities approaches give practitioners the scope to go beyond posture and mobility processes and attend to the other factors, across the ecosystem, that prevent people from realizing their freedoms. To address capability gaps, a broader scope of practice for health practitioners may include consumer empowerment strategies; partnering with the community; and systemic advocacy with duty holders able to address systemic barriers.

Keywords: capabilities approaches; rehabilitation; assistive technology; wheelchair; poverty; outcomes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/12/6/158/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/12/6/158/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:12:y:2022:i:6:p:158-:d:965277

Access Statistics for this article

Societies is currently edited by Ms. Farrah Sun

More articles in Societies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().