Browsing by Author "Subramaniam, V."

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    Enabling access: A pilot study on access and use of assistive products in the Northern Province, Sri Lanka
    (VU e-Publishing, Netherlands, 2019) Hettiarachchi, S.; Subramaniam, V.; Rajah, E.; Nizar, S.; Saleem, S.
    PURPOSE: The need for suitable assistive technology is growing all over the world, not only for people with disabilities but also for the ageing population with functional decline and non-communicable diseases. Access to assistive technology promotes access to education, employment and active societal participation. The aim of this study was to assess the self-reported need by persons with disabilities and by people who were 65 years and older without disabilities in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, for assistive products; and to identify barriers to accessing these assistive products. METHOD: This mixed-methods pilot study included 76 participants who were either persons with disabilities or their caregiver or persons 65 years and older, from the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, affected by the now-ended 30-year civil war. To ascertain trends in the local need for assistive products, a translated version of the World Health Organisation's Priority Assistive Products List of 50 items was used. In addition, semi-structured interviews with key participants were conducted, to gain some insights into the barriers to accessing assistive products. RESULTS: The most widely used assistive products among persons with disabilities were connected to war-related injuries. In contrast, those used by the older age group of persons without disabilities were connected to non-communicable diseases and age-related frailty. The assistive products requested by both groups were aids to promote independence in daily activities and to support access to education and employment. The emergent themes included affordability, employment, independence in activities of daily living, stigma and psychological impact, and a lack of awareness and guidance in the use of assistive devices. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the need for policies and practices to be informed by local socio-cultural, historical and geographical realities. KEYWORDS: Assistive products, Global South, Sri Lanka, war, priorities the Assistive Products List, Version
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    The Perception of Mobile Banking Adoption among the Students Community: With Special Reference to Eastern University
    (Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Subramaniam, V.; Maheswaranathan, S.
    The banking industry gained the opportunity to improve the quality of services offered to their customers with a mechanism that marked the way for the introduction of sophisticated services at a negligible cost. M - Banking is one of the above and plays important role in various daily and routine activities. Banking transaction is one of a transaction process which is transformed by information technology through mobile phones. Mobile banking (M-banking) has dramatically grownup according to the increasing number of mobile device users. In recent years, Mobile banking has become a useful platform to easily access banking services. Therefore, the intended of this study is to find out the factors that contribute to the perception of mobile banking for the student’s community. Using convenience sampling method 100 students were selected from six faculties of the Eastern University, Sri Lanka and primary data were collected through administrated structured questionnaire. Considering the three variables such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived security concern, this study was carried out among the student community. The main finding of this study indicates high level of perception in adaption of mobile banking among the student community.