On the job learning of how mobility aids have empowered members of my community

Earlier this year I passed the ten year mark of employment with my employer. I employed as a Resident Care aid for a non-profit Community health care organization. Before I started in my occupation in Community health care, I could not deny that I was to all intents and purposes unaware of the numerous types of personal mobility-enhancing aids that are present to make the lives of the physically challenged within our communities a lot more bearable. There is in fact no question that there now is a wide assortment of mobility enhancing aids and devices that serve to very much empower the physically disabled and also to boost the level of independence in the lives of disabled people both inside and outside the household

During my ten years of employment with my employer, I have been able to see first hand how mobility challenged individuals manage with their restrictions inside their own households. For starters, I have in addition been made aware of the reality of electric lift chairs and how they help to enable people in their own homes. The major principle behind the lift chair recliner is that it enables the occupant of the chair to easily and safely occupy and vacate the chair at their discretion and without any assistance. The way that standard lift chairs run, is that they are designed to slowly and steadily raise up to meet the intended occupant at their standing level so that they can safely sit into the recliner which would then be lowered down into a suitable seated position at the occupant's discretion by use of a hand-held remote that is connected to the arm of the chair by means of a reinforced cable or cord. Once the chair has been suitably reclined or descended, the occupant can choose from a variety of upright and laid back positions, limited only by the faculty of the chair to be adjusted: some lift chair recliners are equipped with head rests and foot rests which are both able to be adjusted separately from the main body of the chair, to suit the comfort desires of the chair's occupant. Regardless of the specifics of any one particular liftchair model, most of them share analogous safety features; to start with, making sure that the recliner itself is a proper fit for the intended user is one of the fundamental safety tenets that one can start with since a properly fitting chair means that there is less likelihood of the user falling out of it while the chair itself is in motion. In addition, more makes of lift chair come with some sort of battery backup feature to ensure that there is some sort of emergency power source available for the chair in the occurrence that there is any unexpected power failure in the domicile; with the battery backup, the occupant can still control the chair during any power outage. One other safety feature of note is the design of the remote control unit on many models of home lift chair. With many of them, the remote is designed with a pressure switch which ceases to operate unless pressed, that way if for whatever reason the user should release the remote unit they will not be injured or stranded by an out of control chair.

An additional home mobility device that I have become familiar with is the home chair lift for stairs. The basic concept behind the stair chair lift is that it acts as an enabler by permitting the occupant to get up and down between the floors of their home via their home staircase, employing the use of a motorized lift system. There are variations on the basic design of stair chair lifts when it comes to the seating position of the occupant of the lift as well as to whether or not the user requires the option of being able to bring their manual wheelchair into the lift with them.

In the bathroom, there are also a few mobility aids that I had little idea about before first using them in my profession. One such aid is the home shower lift which is designed to allow for the safe and comfortable transit to and from a bathtub. I also have had a chance to learn about the accessible shower and tub, which includes a swing door access design for those with limited mobility. One remaining bathroom mobility enhancing aid that I have come to be aware of is the basic commode chair, which is mainly a water-resistant manual wheelchair equipped with a rubberized seat and designed to fit over most standard toilets, allowing for the physically disabled individual to access both their toilet and shower with less difficulty and no concern for water or rust damage which might be a concern if using any other nature of manual wheel chair within the bathroom shower.

Finally, outside of the home, I have also become aware of and come to grasp the significance of a few other mobility aids. For those with minor mobility issues there is the personal walker which serves as a form of personal support frame for an individual who is still capable of walking with some minor support but that also needs to be able to rest at regular intervals. Now however, walkers have advanced to the point where you can even get a walker that converts into a makeshift seating surface for whenever such an asset might be required .

In support of those with a wider range of mobility, the personal mobility scooter has developed in recognition to the point where it is a preferred type of transit for many mobility-challenged individuals in my area. The major design of the scooter makes it preferable for those individuals who are still able to walk but are unable to carry themselves under their own strength over extensive distances, say on a trip to the nearby park or the shopping center, as an example. The mobility scooter's design is very reminiscent of the conventional scooter with a driver seat located above a central running board and with a handlebar arrangement located in front of the driver. The design of the mobility scooter reflects the idea that the occupant is not necessarily expected to stay on board the vehicle once they have arrived at their destination, with the pivoting seat design allowing for an easy mounting and dismounting of the scooter passenger area. Finally, there is of course the electric or motorized wheel chair. The motorized wheel chair is a genuinely enabling personal mobility device for those physically disabled individuals who would be facing a serious challenge if they had to control a manual chair over farther distances, notably in the more uneven terrains that they might come across in one's neighborhood. Before my employment in health care I had some appreciation for the utility of the motorized wheel chair, still I didn't realize the finer points of such chairs abilities: many powered wheel chairs are equipped with the ability to tilt far back placing the occupant in an almost supine position, which is helpful in reducing pressure on the lower buttocks area (something very important to anyone dealing with pressure sore problems). Also, powered chairs can be outfitted with the capability to be completely operated through only the use of a puff straw, enabling a severely disabled operator with a higher level of control over their own chair. After working with a number of quadriplegics, I have honestly come to appreciate just how much of a difference such enhanced mobility can make in their lives.

Clearly my work in the Community health care sector has exposed me to a number of empowering personal mobility devices both within and outside of the home. From the lift chair recliner to the electric wheel chair I have been privy to the everyday use of many personal mobility devices. When all is said and done, I would have to say that I consider myself fortunate to have ended up in a field which has given me the chance to increase my own awareness of the daily challenges facing many of those in my own community.