Last week I traveled to the RehaCare exhibition in Dusseldorf, Germany and was able to see all that is new and improved in the world of European wheelchair users. I have been attending this show since 1999 and have always marveled at the differences in products.
Of course manual wheelchairs still have two wheels and two casters but they also have some little differences that are added to make them more functional. In Europe, homes are smaller and public accessibility is less certain due to older buildings. That being said, some subtle differences in chairs are: they tend to be much narrower, most have fold down push handles for bumping up a few steps, and many fold up for placing into compact cars. They also have a larger selection of built in bathroom equipment because homes are often too small to have extra bath chairs.
Another area of interest is standing. They take standing those with disabilities very seriously; there’s a greater variety of standers and many more companies selling standing devices. In our booth I spent more time talking about our product and less time talking about the benefits of standing like I normally would at a tradeshow in the United States.
From one country to another there are many differences, and medical products are no exception. Just as people adapt to their surrounding, products need to be adapted to function in the environment that they are being used. I am excited to see what RehaCare 2012 will bring.
Read more about international travel for wheelchair users.
What product differences or adaptations have you noticed?
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