Hiya everyone!
I am a student from Liverpool and for my DT A Level coursework i have decided to make an attachable bag for wheelchair users to carry their personal belongings! I have an auntie who has been a wheelchair user for over 10 years and i wanted to see if i can get a wider opinion.If you have the time can you please answer the following questions.
1)As a wheelchair user what difficulties do you encounter daily ?
2) Do you find it difficult to carry personal belongings with you? If so will a multi storage bag be something your interested in?
3) What issues do you have with existing products like this and what would you like my product to improve on ?
4) cost wise, how much are you willing to spend on a product like this ?
Thanks so much for your help i really appreciate it !!!
Hello Nelaxe. My wife uses a wheelchair. I think I can answer your questions and give a few tips.
1. Difficulties
- Rough surfaces, and bumps, e.g. in doorways, can sometimes be difficult to negotiate. It is often easier to pull the wheel chair backwards over these difficult places.
- Lifts can present problems. If you wheel in forwards, the doors may suddenly close. This is unnerving for the passenger, particularly if the doors catch their feet. If you pull in backwards, you may have difficulty in going forwards to leave the lift, because the front wheels need to turn round and it is sometimes difficult to effect this in a confined space. It depends to some extent on the size of the lift and how soon the doors close, and you get used to various lifts and their idiosyncrasies, and how best to deal with them.
A catch-all method that works with virtually all lifts is as follows. Stand in front of the wheel chair, facing the passenger, grab hold of the arm supports and, walking backwards, pull the wheelchair forwards into the lift. If the doors start to close they will hit you before the passenger. To leave the lift simply get round to the back of the wheel chair and pull it out. - Turning the wheelchair in tight places, e.g. narrow aisles, needs care to avoid catching the passenger’s feet; they are out of your sight but there nevertheless. If you can get the passenger to place their toes, rather than their heels, on the footrests, this helps. However, some people, like my wife, are unable to bend their knees sufficiently to do this. You need to peer round so you can check the position of the wheel on the outside of the turn.
- A general tip - push the wheel chair with your arms outstretched as far as practicable. If you push with bent arms, this puts unnecessary stress on chest muscles and can cause aches and pains. To turn, practise pulling one handle while you push the other; you’ll soon acquire the knack.
2. Carrying belongings
Our wheelchair has a large rear bag, bought as an extra, and is very useful, particularly for shopping. Carrying a bag whilst pushing a wheel chair is not easy. Just one warning. If you need to leave the wheel chair unattended for a short while, the bag is out of sight of the passenger; watch out for thieves. Preferably do not put bank cards or other items of high value in the back bag; use another means to carry these.
3. Issues
The only real issue I have had is that it makes folding of the wheel chair and packing it in the back of a car slightly less easy, though not impossible.
A tip about design: ours has a large and a small compartment which can sometimes be useful. In the small compartment we carry a couple of door wedges - useful for holding sprung doors open if there is nobody else around to assist.
Maybe others on the forum will join this discussion and report on other issues.
4. Cost
I would guess a decent quality product like this could cost around £30 to £40, which to my thinking would be money well spent, though you might find cheaper ones by shopping around. To find who may be offering something like this for sale in your area, visit:
www.yell.com
and search for mobility equipment and the name of your town.
If you are set on making something yourself, good luck, but it is usually wise to check the competition.
I hope this is helpful. If you have further thoughts or require further advice, do ask.
Hello Nelaxe. My wife uses a wheelchair. I think I can answer your questions and give a few tips.
1. Difficulties
- Rough surfaces, and bumps, e.g. in doorways, can sometimes be difficult to negotiate. It is often easier to pull the wheel chair backwards over these difficult places.
- Lifts can present problems. If you wheel in forwards, the doors may suddenly close. This is unnerving for the passenger, particularly if the doors catch their feet. If you pull in backwards, you may have difficulty in going forwards to leave the lift, because the front wheels need to turn round and it is sometimes difficult to effect this in a confined space. It depends to some extent on the size of the lift and how soon the doors close, and you get used to various lifts and their idiosyncrasies, and how best to deal with them.
A catch-all method that works with virtually all lifts is as follows. Stand in front of the wheel chair, facing the passenger, grab hold of the arm supports and, walking backwards, pull the wheelchair forwards into the lift. If the doors start to close they will hit you before the passenger. To leave the lift simply get round to the back of the wheel chair and pull it out.
- Turning the wheelchair in tight places, e.g. narrow aisles, needs care to avoid catching the passenger’s feet; they are out of your sight but there nevertheless. If you can get the passenger to place their toes, rather than their heels, on the footrests, this helps. However, some people, like my wife, are unable to bend their knees sufficiently to do this. You need to peer round so you can check the position of the wheel on the outside of the turn.
- A general tip - push the wheel chair with your arms outstretched as far as practicable. If you push with bent arms, this puts unnecessary stress on chest muscles and can cause aches and pains. To turn, practise pulling one handle while you push the other; you’ll soon acquire the knack.
Good day
I’m not a wheelchair user but my friend is and the most difficult thigs are stairs with build in rails for wheelchairs
You need to have a lot of stamina to climb your way up on them on daily basis
and also a brave heart to wheel down on them on your way back