Assessment of economic value of assistive technologies through quality-adjusted work-life years (qawly)
Citation
Joseph S., Namboodiri V. (2020) Assessment of Economic Value of Assistive Technologies Through Quality-Adjusted Work-Life Years (QAWLY). In: Miesenberger K., Manduchi R., Covarrubias Rodriguez M., Peňáz P. (eds) Computers Helping People with Special Needs. ICCHP 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 12377. Springer, Cham
Abstract
Assistive technologies (ATs) are commonly used to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities. While their utility to a person is usually clear, their cost-effectiveness or economic value is often unclear. There are no tools for specifically assessing the cost-effectiveness of an AT. Such cost effectiveness analysis is often important in workplace contexts where an employer or other agencies are responsible for providing accommodations. In this paper a tool called Quality-Adjusted Work-Life Years (QAWLY) is introduced to measure how cost-effectiveness of AT can be assessed including considerations of extended work-life and improved quality/productivity at work. Case studies are presented that showcase how QAWLY can be used to provide economic data points to be used for decision making involving AT.
Description
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