EUROPEAN
COMMISSION - DGXIII 
One of today's key issues is empowering persons with disabilities to choose an independent lifestyle - in
terms of taking full control over their lives, and being informed and
responsible consumers of Assistive Technology and support services as
required by their disabilities.
Assistive Technology and personal assistance services are often the
key tools for meeting such demands. The term Assistive Technology (AT)
encompasses all products and services able to compensate for functional
limitations, facilitating independence, and improving the quality of life of
elderly people and people with disabilities.
EUSTAT, a study carried out in the period 1997-99 within the Telematics
Application Programme of the European Commission, addressed the educational
needs of end-users of AT. It produced educational material for people with
disabilities, members of their family and personal assistants, as well as guidelines
for those who organise or carry out educational initiatives that facilitate
empowerment of end-users, helping them to make informed, appropriate and responsible AT choices.
EUSTAT had both a technological and social orientation: it stemmed from the idea
that people with disabilities must be active partecipants in the choice of their
AT, thus helping equal opportunities and also introducing
direct control by the end-user over the quality of AT services and products.
All the material produced within EUSTAT is contained in a set of four manuals
that can be freely downloaded from this website.
Final Report 
Consortium
partners 
Eustat Video Slide Show
Programs in Assistive Technology education for end-users in Europe
Public
Documents available from the ProjectOther Languages:
Italian
Portuguese
French 
Dutch 
Danish