subject: The Value Of A Good Wheelchair [print this page] These days almost no one has to ask what a wheelchair is. That is both good and bad. It is bad, of course, because this means that there are still far too many people in the world with moderate to debilitating mobility issues. It is good because without wheelchairs, the quality of life of persons who have such issues would be severely limited.
The invention of the wheelchair hundreds of years ago was certainly a boon to those few who had access to such an item, but at the time the technology and skill needed to build one would have placed strict limitations on their use. Not to mention the inherent difficulties for the person who needed it in being self-propelling when one considers the flooring and paving materials of the time.
Wheelchairs came into much more common usage in the 1800s and came to be in their more or less current form in the mid-1900s. Aside from the advantages in mobility and independence, these products have also helped to force an unwilling world to recognize that a limitation of body did not necessarily equal a limitation of mind, spirit, or personhood. It helped people with mobility issues to cease being ignored or treated as helpless by society at large.
And as time as has gone on, chairs have been modified to perform all manner of tasks no one would have envisioned even a hundred years ago. Consider some of the racing and sport formats, and watch someone take his chair up a short flight of stairs without assistance and it is clear that any attempt to shunt someone with a physical limitation into a corner is, as it should be, doomed to failure.
Unfortunately, as valuable as this creation has been in improving the lives of their users, certain other aspects have been ignored. For example, focusing on the independence of the "rider" has been ignored. This shows that there is always room for improvement. Hopefully, this will continue.
One area that has not been focused on as much as it should be is that of wheelchairs that require attendants for legal and security reasons. Take for example, chair use in hospitals, airports, and other locations where it is necessary to transport people who may be able to walk, just not for long periods of time or require other temporary forms of assistance. The wheelchair designed for personal use is not always the best format for public use.
Ideally, chairs designed for medical and other short-term transport would be easier for the attendant to push, have easily accessible safety features such as brakes - consider a standard wheelchair if it is not obvious why these aspects could do with altering - and also be designed for ease of transfer.
Not all extant wheelchairs are constructed with the movement of its passenger from one spot to another, such as from it to an airplane seat, exam table, or hospital bed. Nor are they necessarily equipped say, to hold carry-on bags, portable oxygen, or other such items. Ideally, hospitals, airports, and the like would have access to transport chairs designed for them without losing sight of consideration for the user.
