Real-life experience of accepting assistive device services for Tibetans with dysfunction: A qualitative study

Objective: This study aimed to understand the real-life experiences of Tibetans in China with dysfunction in the process of accepting assistive device services and to provide a reference for service quality improvement and policy formulation. Methods: Semi-structured personal interviews were used to collect data. Ten Tibetans with dysfunction representing three categories of different economic level areas in Lhasa, Tibet were selected to participate in the study by purposive sampling method from September to December 2021. The data were analyzed using Colaizzi’s seven-step method. Results: The results present three themes and seven sub-themes: identification of tangible benefits from assistive devices (enhancing self-care ability for persons with dysfunction, assisting family members with caregiving and promoting harmonious family relationships), problems and burdens (difficulty in accessing professional services and cumbersome processes, not knowing how to use it correctly, psychological burden: fear of falling and stigmatization), and needs and expectations (providing social support to reduce the cost of use, enhancing the accessibility of barrier-free facilities at the grassroots level and improving the environment for the use of assistive devices). Conclusion: A proper understanding of the problems and challenges faced by Tibetans with dysfunction in the process of accepting assistive device services, focusing on the real-life experiences of people with functional impairment, and proposing targeted suggestions for improving and optimizing the user experience can provide reference and basis for future intervention studies and related policy formulation.