Improving access to mobility related assistive devices for hip fracture patients in The Gambia

辅助器具可以对行动不便者及其家人的健康和福祉产生积极影响。鉴于人口老龄化和非传染性疾病患病率不可避免的上升，世卫组织预测，到2030年，全球辅助技术需求将增加到20亿。尽管这一迫切而未得到满足的需求，但有关辅助技术的可靠数据却很少。此外，[Fractures E3]研究的初步结果表明，南非，冈比亚和津巴布韦的脆弱性骨折可能对个人和家庭产生改变生活的影响。冈比亚的调查结果表明，一些髋骨骨折患者无法获得或只能有限地获得与行动有关的辅助设备。拟议的博士学位广泛旨在确定髋关节骨折后的结果和获得资源，根据护理途径，为了实现这些目标，我建议i）对冈比亚的髋部骨折患者进行回顾性队列研究，以评估传统和现代髋部骨折护理途径对患者和健康相关结局的影响ii）在冈比亚农村和城市的选定地区进行定性访谈，以确定获得辅助设备的障碍三）进行一项可行性研究，以参与共同设计一项干预措施或战略，改善冈比亚髋部骨折患者获得辅助设备的机会。

Assistive devices can have a positive impact on the health and well-being of a person with limited mobility and theirfamily. Given population aging and the inevitable rise in non-communicable disease prevalence, WHO hasprojected that global assistive technology needs will rise to 2 billion by 2030. Despite this urgent, unmet need,reliable data on assistive technology are scarce. Furthermore, Preliminary findings from [Fractures E3] study,suggest that fragility fractures in South Africa, The Gambia, and Zimbabwe may have life-changing impacts onindividuals and families. Findings specifically from The Gambia indicate that some people who have sustained hipfractures have no or limited access to mobility-related assistive devices. The proposed PhD broadly aims to identifyoutcomes and access to resources following hip fracture, according to care pathways, and develop novelapproaches to improving access to mobility-related assistive devices.To meet these aims I propose to i) Undertake a retrospective cohort study of hip fracture patients in The Gambia toestimate patient and health-related outcomes across traditional and modern hip fracture care pathways ii) Conductqualitative interviews in selected areas of rural and urban Gambia to identify the barriers to receiving assistivedevices iii) Conduct a feasibility study for the participatory co-design of an intervention or strategy to improveaccess to assistive devices for hip fracture patients in The Gambia.