Applied Evidence

What is the cost of equity in assistive technology? A tool for calculating assistive products and services.

Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2026 · Other

Natasha Layton, Em Bould, Libby Callaway, Emma Friesen Osborne, Natasha Brusco

PMID 42534954

A perspective article describing a government costing spreadsheet for assistive technology products and services; no patients, no outcomes, no clinical findings.

What this paper is

This is a perspective article presenting the AT SERVE Tool, an Excel spreadsheet for calculating the cost of assistive technology products and the services needed to deliver them, with equity weighting for rural and Indigenous populations. It was developed in 2024–2025 to inform Australian government resource allocation for community-dwelling older adults. It reports no patients, no clinical outcomes, and no intervention effects. There is nothing here to change your practice on.

Declared interests

The work was commissioned by the Commonwealth of Australia Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (2023–2025). The authors declared financial support was received for the work and/or its publication.

Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →


The study

Certainty of evidence
Low

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    Cite

    Natasha Layton, Em Bould, Libby Callaway, et al. What is the cost of equity in assistive technology? A tool for calculating assistive products and services. Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences. 2026.

    Read the original — we summarise, we never replace the paper.