Better together: Promoting interdisciplinary research in assistive technology

Anyone who works with assistive technology fully appreciates “one size never fits all.” Addressing people’s AT needs requires a coordinated and sustained contribution from people from a variety of educational backgrounds and traditions. Even at its most basic, providing AT for individuals requires contributions of both clinical and technical skill in collaboration with the people who will be using the AT. As a result, the field is inherently interdisciplinary (i.e., collaborations resulting in “bi-directional knowledge transfer, where team members not only contribute knowledge to the project but also gain new perspectives through the team’s joint efforts” (Boger et al., 2017), drawing on the skills and knowledge of a range of clinicians and health professionals, rehabilitation engineers, service providers, and others (de Witte, 2018). Moreover, people from different backgrounds working together often result in innovative approaches – new ways of thinking and doing that support functional wellbeing (Gray, 2008).

While the blending of expertise has been shown to be crucial to providing effective, appropriate, and accessible assistive technology, research in assistive technology is often conducted in silos. It is not uncommon to see research on the development, production, or provision of assistive technologies conducted entirely within a single discipline and without consideration of the range of contexts in which it might be used. Furthermore, assistive technology research often fails to include assistive technology users – the people who are ultimately the ones who will rely on the technology to live their day to day lives.

As so much of our day-to-day assistive technology provision is an interdisciplinary effort that includes end users that has been shown a more wholistic approach results in better outcomes, it stands to reason that assistive technology research should reflect and complement provision, uptake, and sustained use realities. Aligning research approach to what is done in practice could underpin innovation and discoveries that translate more readily into real-world implementation. This is particularly true for the development of novel assistive technologies where there are usually more unknowns coupled with high demands for innovative thinking.

Just as there are benefits to engaging in interdisciplinary research, there are pitfalls when we fail to do so. Assistive technologies developed without the necessary technical expertise may fail to consider the complexities of the dynamic and transactional person-technology-environment relationship (Cutchin & Dickie, 2012). Similarly, assistive technologies developed without the necessary clinical expertise may not consider, among others, the range of complexities that someone with a disability may present with, how they will access the technology, or potential secondary complications of use.

Engaging the user through user-centered design or co-design helps to ensure the technology actually meets a user need. Collaborating as an interdisciplinary team provides additional perspectives leading to a technology that will better suit the needs of a broader range of potential users and often sidesteps pitfalls. Providing AT is an interdisciplinary team effort – we need to approach research the same way if we are to drive innovation, support effective deployment, and strengthen the evidence we use to advance the field.

The Assistive Technology journal encourages submissions from interdisciplinary teams across all forms of assistive technology research, especially in the area of product development and evaluation.