A teenage girl of restricted height with spinal and knee problems needs crutches to walk, so that she cannot easily cope with changes in floor level. As a result, she had to be lifted in and out of the family car, causing back problems for her mother on the school run. We made a set of shallow steps so that the girl can now walk up to and down from the passenger seat under her own steam on her crutches. As you’ll seen in the video, the steps are strong yet quite easy to assemble and disassemble.
Tag: Accessibility
Garden shed handrail
Following a leg amputation, a lady living in a small bungalow
had difficulty accessing her garden shed where she keeps her
washing machine. We installed a handrail that enables her to
mount the steps up to her shed safely.
Walker attachment for electric scooter
A lady client was using an electric mobility scooter to get around, but needed to carry a walking frame so she could get into shops and other places that the scooter could not access. We used clips and a Velcro strap to hold the frame onto the scooter.
Door latch extension
A lady with arthritis that restricts hand movement asked if we could help her get out of her house. The problem was that she found it difficult to operate the small latch on the front door. Remap engineers looked at the problem and provided a simple solution: they made the latch bigger by grafting on a screwdriver handle! The client now gets out more.
Model door for assessing accessibility
Stroke patients discharged from hospital often suffer from reduced manual dexterity and find it difficult to operate the locks and security devices fitted to their doors when they get home. To help assess whether patients might face such problems, occupational therapists at Amersham Hospital asked Remap to construct a working model of a door, complete with a range of full-sized locks, latches, handles and a door chain. As a result, OTs can now seek pre-discharge assistance from Remap engineers, who can provide individual adaptations before or coinciding with the patient’s return home. The door can also be used in rehabilitation, allowing patients to practice using locks and handles.
Leg lifter for stairlift
Rosemary from Amersham suffered a stroke and was unable to lift her right leg onto a stairlift footplate or to hold it there while the stairlift was in motion. We designed a leg lifting device with a cushioned bar that rests across her left thigh and another that goes under her right thigh. Rosemary moves a lever to the left to raise the bar on the right, lifting her right leg using the bar on the left as a fulcrum; this action also moves a curved bar across her right shin. Pushing the lever forward moves the shin bar to gently bend the right knee, bringing her right foot onto the footplate and allowing her to keep it in position by flexing her left ankle to adjust the fulcrum. Rosemary can now use the stairlift on her own, giving her independent upstairs access.
Walking frame stabiliser
Norah, a resident in her early 90s at Abbeyfield Supported Sheltered Housing, Princes Risborough, was in the habit of going into town on her own to visit the library. Then she suffered a stroke that affected her balance and her confidence in getting around. Norah’s room is on the first floor of her home. To gain access to the outside world, or even to the communal dining area and day room on the ground floor, she has to cross the landing at the top of a flight of stairs to access the lift. Using a wheeled walking frame, and with impaired balance, she was increasingly worried that she may fall down the stairs. She began to spend more time alone in her room. An occupational therapist at Wycombe Hospital referred Norah to Remap, whose engineers were able to come up with a solution.
To stabilise the walker, a tubular runner was mounted on the wall opposite the top of the stairs, and two sprung ball-end shafts were fitted to the frame, one on either side. Norah simply feeds the end of the appropriate shaft into the runner and can cross the landing quickly and confidently in the knowledge that the walker is secured. She can now eat and socialise with fellow residents again, and has resumed her trips into town. Norah said: “This gadget makes it safe for me to walk across the top of the stairs and has made a world of difference. It’s 100% successful.”
Watch video here.
“Bridge” to bathroom
A gentleman with multiple sclerosis (MS) lives on the first floor of his home because that is were his bedroom and bathroom are. Unfortunately, there is a step down and then back up at the top of the stairs between the two rooms, preventing him from moving between them in his wheelchair. We designed a fold-down infill “bridge”, complete with handrail and gas struts, that allows him to travel safely over the landing to the bathroom.
John's Site 