Where Can I Find Assistive Technology Devices?

The need for assistive technology devices is growing worldwide. One contributing factor to this growing need is our aging population. The World Health Organization predicts that more than 2 billion individuals will need at least one assistive device by the year 2030, with many requiring two or more.

Many individuals can benefit from the use of today’s innovative devices to allow them to increase mobility; rehabilitate from injuries, surgery, or illness; remain in their own homes; and increase independence.

However, a few questions present obstacles that keep individuals, caregivers, and employers from utilizing these products:

Where do I find these physical aids, and how do they work?
How do I use them effectively?
How do I select the best devices that will promote well-being, recovery, and independence?
Which physical aids do I need based on my personal limitations? And how will they help me?

Most Common Reasons Someone Might Use Assistive Technology Devices

There are many common reasons that individuals develop a need for assistive technology devices:

Rehabilitation from all sorts of injuries and indications—including falls, strokes, or neurological disorders
Recovery from serious surgery that prevents or limits mobility
Cardiovascular issues
Diseases that limit muscle function, such as muscular dystrophy (MD)
The physical challenges that come with aging (such as wanting to remain in the same home)
Other disabilities that make it difficult to be independent

Assistive technology encompasses all types of equipment that improve the lifestyle or functionality of someone with disabilities. This includes items such as wheelchairs, walkers, improved vision equipment, and much more.

Today’s technology provides new opportunities for creating assistive devices for elderly residents or anyone who may have mobility challenges or limitations.

Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco (ILRCSF) stresses the importance and value of assistive technology devices for enabling mobility-challenged individuals to participate in more activities and enjoy a fuller existence.

How Assistive Technology Devices Can Help Those With Ambulatory Disabilities

An ambulatory disability is a physical disability that restricts a person from moving around without the aid of a wheelchair. Thankfully, modern assistive devices that are more advanced than standard wheelchair models offer new capabilities to help those with ambulatory disabilities.

MOTOmed® muvi

The MOTOmed® muvi is an assistive device that offers therapy and training for users who are trying to increase their mobility or regulate their muscle tone. By exercising legs and arms at the same time, it provides full-body training and rehabilitation. Each individual’s needs can be accommodated with passive or active training that allows the use of existing muscle strength for smooth, controlled motions.

Different models are available for patients to use the MOTOmed® trainer from a chair, wheelchair, or even a bed. The MOTOmed® muvi allows users to stay active and move their arms and legs—even if the user has limited mobility. Beyond that, it offers individuals many more valuable benefits, including:

Adjustable resistance to target specific muscles
Recovery from mental or physical incapacities
Activated muscle strength
Improved blood circulation
Increased confidence and self-esteem
Increased mobility

The MOTOmed® muvi was designed and refined with input from engineers, physicians, and therapists with the goal of creating a single assistive technology device that can exercise the entire body at once—or allow the user the ability to train upper or lower extremities separately. The result is a unit capable of stimulating up to 80 percent of skeletal muscle groups in one session.

Independence Chair™

This Danish-designed chair can be completely customized to your needs to offer exactly what its name indicates: independence. With the mobility offered by this award-winning chair, persons with mobility challenges can participate in activities that were previously out of the question—with far less risk of injury from falling.

Muscle weakness and instability from conditions such as stroke, COPD, and joint replacements can create a hazardous condition for both young and elderly residents. With the Independence Chair™ manufactured by VELA, individuals get updated freedom of movement with foot propulsion while they remain seated.

Wheels can be locked to avoid unexpected movement when moving from chair to bed or desiring to remain in place for any other reason—including cooking, doing the laundry, washing the dishes, or while using the chair at a desk in a workplace environment. Height adjustments facilitate movement between a desk, counter-height activities, or another seat—easily and securely.

Bike Labyrinth

With this high-tech assistive technology device, users that have a mobility or neurological disability can enjoy simulated cycling through over 200 well-known landscapes and cities. This provides movement training with an interactive experience that also improves memory issues—all without leaving home.

From a seated position—in a wheelchair or any stationary trainer—patients cycle through famous cities around the world exploring nature routes, marketplaces, or landmarks such as Holland’s famous windmills or Amsterdam’s canals. The experience encourages the use of the device to improve ambulatory function, build muscle tone, and increase circulation.

MOTOmed® letto2

Even individuals confined to a bed—whether at home or in the ICU—can benefit from movement therapy. The MOTOmed® letto2 facilitates rehabilitation from orthopedic or cardiovascular procedures and is also used as a treatment for neurological disorders.

This device can be positioned at the end of the bed or on the left or right side to meet every therapy need. With features for manual knee bending and hydraulic height adjustment, motor-assisted movements contribute to arm and leg therapy sessions and patient care is easier for therapists and caregivers.

When it comes to ICU usage, utilizing the letto2 for early-intervention physical therapy can lead to:

Quicker hospital discharges
Safer handling of patients
Fewer injured staff members

Dialysis centers have also come to realize the great value of the letto2, as one study even suggests that taking advantage of therapy while going through dialysis can improve blood filtration, rendering better, faster results for patients.

Hasomed RehaMove®

Exercise legs and arms simultaneously with Hasomed’s RehaMove®, which improves circulation while building muscle tone and strength. Using the RehaMove® system results in improved circulation, fewer muscle spasms, and overall better cardiovascular health. This is a complimentary device to the MOTOmed® products, which can be used together.

RehaMove® utilizes functional electrical stimulation (FES) to provide people with paralyzed or weakened legs with a comfortable cycling motion using light electrical impulses. By attaching up to eight electrodes to various muscles, individuals achieve increased strength, better circulation, and improved muscle tone.

Additionally, the RehaMove® is available with an upper limb hand crank and software modules perfect for upper body exercise.

How Assistive Technology Devices Contribute to Improved Health and Well-Being

Patients, individuals with disabilities, and elderly persons with ambulatory limitations can receive the following benefits from implementing assistive technology devices:

Enhancements in quality of life
Reduced fatigue and improved general well-being from exercise training and increased movement
Increased ability to walk longer distances
Personal confidence through self-perception of improved function and increased muscular ability
Reduction in neuromuscular complications following long or critical illnesses
Improvement in symptoms of depression or anxiety

Each of these benefits is critical in making life better for patients, loved ones, and employees. Even in environments like ICUs, early motion therapy can be instrumental in shortening a patient’s hospital stay.

Find the Best Assistive Technology Devices for You, Loved Ones, or Employees

At Enable Me, we’re assistive technology specialists. We provide individuals, health care institutions, and businesses with devices that offer improved physical movement and better overall quality of life for users.

When you are looking for assistive technology devices that will benefit you or other individuals, your search begins and ends with Enable Me. We not only offer the finest mobility equipment available but also provide expert training in using each device to optimize its benefits.

Each of our products has been designed and manufactured in association with doctors and therapists with the goal of finding the best results for patients and mobility-challenged individuals. The use of Enable Me assistive technology devices is fast and intuitive. Colorful displays and clear images make navigating controls simple for both therapists and patients.

Health care and independent living devices that provide new levels of movement and aid rehabilitation are the primary focus of our business. Enable Me works with international manufacturers to create state-of-the-art, high-quality assistive technology for:

Individuals with disabilities
Patient rehabilitation
Employee mobility and accommodation at the workplace (ADA compliant)
Aging citizens who want to age in place and keep their independence

We are one of the largest suppliers of high-technology mobility devices in the U.S. Our products improve rehabilitation therapy and quality of life for persons with disabilities and elderly individuals, as well as those suffering from injuries, stroke, or muscular diseases—such as Parkinson’s or MD.

Assistive technology services from Enable Me can make a significant difference in daily activities for company employees, aging residents, or other loved ones in your care. Contact Enable Me to learn more about some of the most innovative assistive technology devices on the market today.

Reach out to Enable Me to learn more about some of the most innovative assistive technology devices on the market today.