e-NABLE: DIY-AT Production in a Multi-Stakeholder System

Abstract

The e-NABLE community is a distributed collaborative volunteer effort to make upper-limb assistive technology devices available to end users. e-NABLE represents a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach to traditional prosthetic care. In order to learn about the attitudes and challenges of stakeholders working in and around e-NABLE, we conducted interviews with 12 volunteers in the e-NABLE movement and 3 clinicians. We found that volunteers derive a rich set of benefits from this form of altruistic activity; that both volunteers and clinicians recognize that end users benefit from aesthetic customization and personal choice in device selection; and that volunteers and clinicians bring separate, but potentially complementary, skills to bear on the processes of device provision. Based on these findings, we outline potential ways for volunteers and clinicians to optimize their talents and knowledge around the end goal of increased positive patient outcomes