subject: Screening Wheelchairs For Mobility And Comfort [print this page] Wheelchairs have been in use since the sixth century (in China), but many innovations been done to improve the mobility and comfort of these therapeutic devices. Design features focus on wheel construction, seat adjustments, back and head rest types, controls, power methods, and construction materials.
The first lightweight, collapsible, and mass-produced chairs were invented and marketed by an injured miner, Herbert Everest, and his inventive friend, Harry Jennings. They realized that many people needed a way to get around even though they could not walk, and that having a collapsible chair meant that they could venture beyond their living space.
Innovations since that breakthrough in 1933 include new sorts of wheels, lighter-weight materials, new designs for seats, back rests, and limb supports, and new methods of allowing the occupant to move around without help. Experts have focused on comfort, health enhancement, and mobility. Regulations that control handicap access have led to the availability of wheelchairs in shopping malls, hotels, airports, and train stations.
The simple transport chair, designed to be pushed by an attendant, usually has rear handles and wheels that cannot be turned by the occupant. The seat is usually a sling, suspended from both sides, and the back rest a similar arrangement that allows the chair to be folded in the center. Footrests keep the occupant's feet up out of the way.
Variations are many, designed to make the chairs as comfortable, therapeutic, and useful as possible. There are manual chairs that can be pushed and that can also be moved by the occupant by means of hand rims on the rear wheels. The wheels themselves have seen many changes; the newest designs can move in all directions, including diagonally, and some chairs are made for all terrains and even have shock absorbers.
Newer designs take into account both the short-term comfort and the long-term needs of the occupant. Manually operated chairs can be both pushed and moved by means of hand rims on the rear wheels. The occupant can move the chair forward and back, stop, and turn by controlling the wheels. New wheel designs can allow chairs to travel in all directions, even diagonally. People in wheelchairs can even go outside, with all-terrain chairs that can get over small obstacles, climb curbs, and may even have shock absorbers.
Now made of ultra-light materials, and with many variations of sitting, standing, and reclining postures available, wheelchairs are more useful and therapeutic than ever. They also allow a much greater degree of comfort.
