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Do Assistive Products Enhance or Equalize Opportunities? A Comparison of Capability across Persons with Impairments Using and Not Using Assistive Products and Persons without Impairments in Bangladesh

Author

Listed:
  • Johan Borg

    (School of Health and Welfare, Dalarna University, 791 31 Falun, Sweden)

  • Natasha Layton

    (Rehabilitation, Ageing and Independent Living (RAIL) Research Centre, Monash University, Melbourne 3800, Australia)

  • Per-Olof Östergren

    (Social Medicine and Global Health, Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden)

  • Stig Larsson

    (Social Medicine and Global Health, Department of Clinical Sciences, Malmö, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden)

Abstract

Aiming to compare capability across persons with impairments using and not using assistive products and persons without impairments in Bangladesh for 16 different functionings, we contrast two sets of self-reported cross-sectional data from eight districts of Bangladesh: (i) data from persons with hearing impairment not using hearing aids, persons with hearing impairment using hearing aids and persons without impairments (N = 572); and (ii) data from persons with ambulatory impairment not using manual wheelchairs, persons with ambulatory impairment using manual wheelchairs and persons without impairments (N = 598). Kruskal–Wallis tests were used to compare levels of capability across the three groups in each data set. Results showed that, for all functionings in both data sets, the levels of capability were statistically significantly highest for persons without impairments. Compared to persons with hearing impairment not using hearing aids, persons with hearing impairment using hearing aids scored higher in all functionings, with statistical significance at the .05 level for 12 of them. Persons with ambulatory impairment using manual wheelchairs scored higher than persons with ambulatory impairment not using manual wheelchairs for 11 of the functionings, but none of the comparisons between the two groups were significant at the .05 level. Assistive products—hearing aids more than manual wheelchairs—enhance capabilities but do not fully equalize opportunities between people with and without impairments.

Suggested Citation

  • Johan Borg & Natasha Layton & Per-Olof Östergren & Stig Larsson, 2022. "Do Assistive Products Enhance or Equalize Opportunities? A Comparison of Capability across Persons with Impairments Using and Not Using Assistive Products and Persons without Impairments in Bangladesh," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-10, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:12:y:2022:i:5:p:141-:d:936320
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Aldo Rosano & Federica Mancini & Alessandro Solipaca, 2009. "Poverty in People with Disabilities: Indicators from the Capability Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 94(1), pages 75-82, October.
    2. Surona Visagie & Arne H Eide & Karin Dyrstad & Hasheem Mannan & Leslie Swartz & Marguerite Schneider & Gubela Mji & Alister Munthali & Mustafa Khogali & Gert van Rooy & Karl-Gerhard Hem & Malcolm MacL, 2017. "Factors related to environmental barriers experienced by persons with and without disabilities in diverse African settings," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(10), pages 1-14, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Natasha Layton & Johan Borg, 2023. "Assistive Technology and the Wellbeing of Societies from a Capabilities Approach," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-3, January.
    2. Natasha Layton & Silvana Contepomi & Maria del Valle Bertoni & Maria Helena Martinez Oliver, 2022. "When the Wheelchair Is Not Enough: What Capabilities Approaches Offer Assistive Technology Practice in Rural Argentina," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-12, November.

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