21 Apr 2023

Outdoor Fun Unlimited - Recreational Solutions for People with Limited Mobility

Outdoors - with increasing temperatures and after a long winter, many people are drawn back outdoors more. People with limited mobility need special solutions to be able to be active and keep up with family or friends.

It's a good thing that the market has adapted to this ever-growing group of active people and offers a wide range of mobility options that leaves nothing to be desired. Former niche products have become contemporary mobility solutions to meet the increasingly individual needs of this target group.

The large selection of products opens up many possible applications for users: From therapy tricycles for the little ones to electric-assisted traction devices for wheelchairs, e-bikes, tandems, recumbent bikes and e-scooters with a wide range of equipment options and smart controls. This year at REHAB, many exhibitors will once again be offering mobility solutions for all age groups to get to know, touch and try out. These aids can be used to combine therapeutic goals with coping with everyday life and leisure activities.

A child rides a blue tricycle on the street and laughs into the camera. The child is also wearing pink trousers and a colourful T-shirt.
Schuchmann manufactures children's rehabilitation technology - like this tricycle. (Image: Schuchmann GmbH & Co. KG)

Combining leisure and therapy: "Mobility is more than fun!" Torsten Schuchmann, a manufacturer of aids for children and young people, is aware of the need to combine therapy and fun.

He believes: "We humans particularly enjoy being active in the community of our own accord when it's fun. So why not develop products that enable participation and combine it with therapeutic benefits. We want to offer active people the best possible support to keep them mobile. Activity promotes their independence, trains circulation, balance, spatial thinking, muscles and strengthens the bony structure. This applies not only to children, but to all people."

Accessing the local area: From small children with congenital disabilities to older people with limited mobility, the aim is to cope independently with everyday life and access the local area - such as the way to school, the doctor or the supermarket. Mobility solutions that are becoming increasingly easy to use ensure that people can lead a self-determined life. As our society ages, it is important to keep people mobile for as long as possible.

Ensuring participation: Particularly in the leisure sector, there is a growing need for people with limited mobility to be able to take part in joint activities with family or friends. In the children's sector, there is a need for support options that grow with the child and individual adaptations to the respective users, but also with regard to possible uses at all ages.

The picture shows a woman and a man in wheelchairs travelling along a city street. Both wheelchair users are using a traction device to get around.
Wheelchair traction devices, harness bikes and other exciting mobility aids can be tested at REHAB. You will also find SwissTrac products on site.

Individuality is a top priority: The manufacturers' product range at REHAB shows trade fair visitors what is important: quickly adaptable, transportable and scalable products are in demand. Mobility solutions are increasingly developing from rehabilitation aids into lifestyle products. Equipped with special microchips and individually controllable via apps, manufacturers are making it possible to adapt drives and vehicles to the respective user profile and abilities.

What applies to children can be taken further in the adult sector: Three-wheeled scooters with a large footprint and electric drive, such as those from Micro Mobility Systems, promote balance and motor skills, support therapies and increase the radius of action - even for older people.

Wheelchair traction devices or push bikes such as those from Swiss-Trac or R&E Stricker make it possible to cope with longer distances, uneven terrain, inclines and transportation by car or public transport - at any age.

The photo shows a man, a woman and a tandem bike. The man is sitting on the seat of the tandem and smiling at the camera. The woman stands behind the tandem and adjusts the seat.
Fun in a double pack - that's what you can experience with the Parallel Tandem Fun2Go from manufacturer Van Raam B.V. (Image: Van Raam B.V.)

In the bicycle sector, there are many variations for combining physical activity, therapy and leisure enjoyment: Everything from recumbent bikes, cargo bikes, tandems and folding bikes to therapy bikes and rehabilitation vehicles can be seen and tried out at the trade fair. With the appropriate electric pedal support and different types of drive, the radius of action is increased, a tricycle or recumbent bike, for example, provides additional stability, as can be seen with the Easy Rider Compact from Van Raam or Trix and Trigo UP from Hase Bikes or with therapy bikes from Schuchmann in the children's and youth sector, such as the new recumbent tricycle Mats that grows with the child.

Cycling with people who can no longer find their way around traffic on their own? This is also possible with the revised Fun2Go parallel tandem from the manufacturer Van Raam, for example.

The JOYY ONE personal transporter from JOYY Mobility, which is equipped with an electric drive, ergonomic seat and stabilization technology, promises safe and manoeuvrable driving with just two wheels and yet is still safe to use.

Joysticks and smartphone controls make it easy, safe and customizable to use.

Reimbursement is possible in many cases

Health insurance companies or other cost bearers often come into question for the purpose of assuming costs within the framework of the principle of benefits in kind: If a product is not an object of daily life, is specially built for this purpose and, according to §33 SGB V, serves to "compensate for a disability" and a significant improvement in mobility in the immediate vicinity or to ensure medical treatment or to avert an impending disability, both health insurance companies or other cost bearers come into play. Costs can also be covered in accordance with SGB IX and the participation goals enshrined therein, which ensure that a person with a disability can lead a self-determined and independent life with the basic right to personal mobility and the assurance of participation in life in the community.

You should not miss the opportunity to try out the many exhibitors at the 22nd European Trade Fair for Rehabilitation, Therapy, Care and Inclusion in Karlsruhe - the test track also offers exciting opportunities to try out the new products.