Announcement

CCHE Seminar Series: ‘Holding Up a Mirror to Public Policy’ The Role Economic Modelling and Equity Benchmarking Can Play in Influencing Systemic Change in Australian Assistive Technology Policy and Implications for Canada

‘Holding up a mirror to public policy’ The role economic modelling and equity benchmarking can play in influencing systemic change in Australian assistive technology policy and implications for Canada 

Natasha Layton and Natasha Brusco
Rehabilitation, Ageing and Independent Living (RAIL) Research Centre, Monash University, Australia

Friday April 26, 2024, 10am-12pm, HSB Rm. 412 and Zoom

Abstract: Canada and Australia share many similarities in the demographics of ageing, great distances over which services must be delivered, and intersectional population needs which include First Nations peoples. Assistive technology and home modifications are key supports which can be transformative in the independence they enable and the participations they support. Research demonstrates significant barriers for older Australians, and Canadians, in accessing this support[1]. Visiting from the RAIL Research Centre at Monash University Australia, occupational therapist Dr Natasha Layton will present research undertaken with Associate Professor Natasha Brusco, physiotherapist and health economist, in conjunction with Professor Rosalie Wang of University of Toronto. The talk will cover:

  • Co-design of the first ever national benchmarking of assistive technology for Australia by Australian civil society from across health, ageing and disability sectors;
  • Applied research methods used, including policy analysis and economic evaluation;
  • Approaches to costing the services (information, assessment, set-up, trial and training, provision, maintenance and review) necessary for assistive technology to be effective.

[1] Layton, N.; Brusco, N.; Callaway, L.; Henley, L.; Wang, R.H. It is time for nationally equitable access to assistive technology and home modifications in Australia: An equity benchmarking study. Australian Journal of Social Issues 2024, 59, 244-263, doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.290.

Dr Layton is an occupational therapist, senior research fellow with RAIL Research Centre, and industry adjunct with Swinburne University. She works locally and nationally in Australia with a range of consumer groups, government and the non-profit sector. Natasha consults globally to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Co-Operation on AT Initiative, and represents Australian Standards to the ISO on the classification and terminology of assistive products. She is a founding member of the Global Alliance of Assistive Technology Organisations (GAATO www.gaato.org ) on behalf of Australia’s peak body for AT, ARATA (www.arata.org).

Associate Prof Brusco is a physiotherapist and a health economist and the Director for the RAIL Research Centre. Over the past three years Natasha has been involved in economic modelling analyses regarding the provision of assistive technology to older persons, and persons with disability, in Australia. Her primary research focus is cost-effective rehabilitation models of care, with a particular interest on the provision of rehabilitation self-management and weekend services, as well as maximizing incidental patient movement (physical activity) while in hospital.