Our actions and commitment as a social entreprise

L'équipe d'ORTHOPUS de dos avec des tee-shirts "HANDITECH SOLUTIONS FOR EVERYONE"
Social economy, human commitment, transparency and medical devices for everyone: where does it come from and what does it mean for ORTHOPUS? Let’s explore this topic!

Why is ORTHOPUS taking part in the social economy ?

Our main purpose is to bring solutions to the people living with a disability. That’s why we choose to develop innovative robotic assistive devices to improve autonomy in daily life.

Through this mission, our goal is to fight exclusion and inequalities due to disabilities. Access to quality assistive technology is a lever to improve social and professional insertion: enabling participation at work, in education, in society and in free-time activities.

Our general approach is based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) published by the United Nations. This list of seventeen calls for action aims to build a better world by 2030, promoting prosperity and tackling climate change. ORTHOPUS’ mission especially meets SDG n°1 – No poverty and SDG n°3 – Good health and well-being for all.

Moreover, our strategy for accessibility is built on recommendations of WHO’ health and disability reports :
World report on disability – 2011
Global report on assistive technology – 2022
Policy Brief : Access to assistive technology – 2021

The Policy Brief : Access to assistive technology provides courses of action to improve access to assistive technology. In particular, to drive our work, we use the five interlinked areas of people-centered assistive technology: the five 5Ps: Policy, Products, Personnel, Provision, People.

ORTHOPUS’ actions for social impact

ORTHOPUS officially holds ESUS approval since 2019 for its mission and social commitment. This French agreement is granted on the basis of specific criteria such as: the social utility mission, democratic governance involving the company’s stakeholders, controlled remuneration policy, reinvestment of the majority of profits in the operation of the company.

Here are the actions we have implemented to stand by our commitments and embody our values :

- Measuring our social impact

Beyond the commercial transaction, we want to measure the social impact of the ORTHOPUS device for the user.

Thank to differents tools, we aim to :

  • Assess how our devices are impacting the quality of life, the well-being and the independence of our users.
  • Identify how to technically improve our devices, make them easier to use, but most of all, increase their acceptability.

- Publishing our prices with transparency

In the medical field, there is a general opacity, especially with price calculation. But for people living with a disability, the first obstacle to get an assistive device is the price. By openly publishing the details of our prices, our purpose is to improve accessibility of assistive technology. Moreover, this transparency highlights the work produced by each person involved in distribution and sale of our devices: distributors and medical providers.

- Taking all our stakeholders into consideration

Since 2019, when we took a commitment of democratic governance, we have been setting up an annual democratic meeting called “The Pirate council”. This event gathers representatives from all our stakeholders: team members, financial partners, health professionals, users, suppliers and providers. It’s the occasion to share ORTHOPUS’ perspectives , to collect their needs and thoughts regarding our key topics (sales choices, governance, strategy, etc.)

- Providing positive work conditions to our employees

As disability field workers, we are very thoughtful about inclusivity and well-being. This steers us to build a fulfilling work environment and to put in place :

  • Personal interviews, called “Log book”, for each member of the crew every 6 months
  • 6 days leave per year for “Chronic illness or pain”
  • Salary’ transparency: everybody knows everyone else’s salary. This transparency strengthens trust and creates balanced work conditions.

Conclusion

We are very curious to know your expectations from a social company like ORTHOPUS! How could we improve ourselves regarding user’s feedback, transparency, or information sharing ? Please give us your opinions in the comments below, or on our social media !

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