Wheelchair: Maintaining mobility
How to choose your wheelchair correctly?
Faced with a problem of reduction or loss of mobility, you are looking for a wheelchair suitable for your situation and you still hesitate between several models? Through our buying guide, find the model you need.
How to choose your wheelchair correctly?
The main objective of a wheelchair is to guarantee the user maximum functionality, comfort and mobility. Many models of wheelchairs are available on the market. They meet various needs and differ according to their mode of operation. To find the wheelchair suitable for its morphology and level of autonomy, several factors must be taken into account.
- A good installation:
the wheelchair must adapt to your body type: width, seat depth, backrest height, adjustable seat or backrest. It must also take into account your functional abilities
- Good use:
carefully assess the environment in which the wheelchair will be used.
- Adaptation to activities:
Choosing an armchair depends on your activities.
Depending on the use of the wheelchair, you can choose to have a reclining backrest or add leg rests.
Also other criteria that are essential when purchasing your transport chair are: the age of the user, width of the seat, the weight of the chair (the lighter the model, the easier it will be to displacement), the wheels must adapt to your environment.
The optional wheelchair equipment:
All wheelchairs are made up of several parts, some of which, like the wheels or the battery, are essential for the proper functioning of a wheelchair.
To ensure the comfort of wheelchair users in all circumstances, you can install many accessories such as:
- Anti-bedsore seat cushion
- The rod holder allows you to put your cane on your chair
- The tablet
- Propulsion gloves for manual wheelchairs
- The flanges which are elements of personalization of arrangements
- The stickers
- Belt for some safety
What is the difference between manual and electric wheelchairs?
There are two main families of wheelchairs, namely the models with an electric motor and the models which do not have a motor. The manual model without motor is suitable if the user is able to roll his chair alone. The electric model is however suitable for someone who wishes to benefit from total autonomy and independence
The manual wheelchair:
It is a chair equipped with several wheels, serving as a mobility aid for a person with a motor disability. Its main feature is the absence of an engine. Therefore, the operation of a manual wheelchair requires providing physical effort. Depending on their physical capacity, the user can either roll the chair himself or have someone else help him. Most of these models are equipped with handles accessible behind the backrest, it is easy to move them in all directions.
The electric wheelchair:
It is a wheelchair equipped with an electric motor. An electric control, accessible on the arm of the chair, allows it to be moved.
the control of the electric wheelchair depends only on the person occupying it. It is chosen when the senior can no longer use a manual chair. The chair can be operated with a command to the chin, by hand or possibly by another person. The selection criteria that will guide the purchase of an electric chair, in addition to questions of morphology, are numerous: the backrest, the armrests, the tires, the range and any options.
