From patient to customer: Direct payments for assistive technology for disabled people’s self-determination

Abstract

[Excerpt] The author, AT user and activist in the Independent Living movement, claiming that direct payments for AT result in better quality and cost-efficiency than services in kind, suggests a pilot project to test the hypothesis. Plenary paper presented at the 7th European Conference for the Advancement of Assistive Technology, “Shaping the Future”, Dublin, Ireland, August 31st – 3rd September 2003.