96 per cent of people feel safer and more confident using a design-forward mobility device
A newly published paper by mobility solutions manufacturer WHILL explores how design, technology, and human-centred thinking are redefining how people adopt and experience mobility solutions.
In particular, the paper, Designing for Dignity: Reshaping Perceptions of Mobility, highlights the importance of mobility solutions that transcend the traditional medicalized approach to design that has tended to erect emotional and social barriers to mobility adoption.
The key takeaways include stigma, not physical limitation, is a primary reason why many people delay adopting mobility devices; traditional medical-centered design cues can reinforce perceptions of dependency and patienthood, and emotional and psychological barriers, including internalized ableism and fear of permanence, strongly influence adoption.
Other takeaways include design-forward mobility reframes devices as tools of agency, confidence, autonomy, and identity, and consumer-centric design improves independence and inclusion. Inclusive, aspirational design is critical as aging populations reshape mobility needs.
Statistics shown 96 per cent of WHILL users reported feeling safer, more stable, confident, or independent after adopting a design-forward mobility device, and 90 per cent reported greater independence compared to prior mobility solutions.
Research also found the number of older adults who used a wheelchair increased from with current users reporting physical difficulties that affected their outdoor mobility 4.7 per 100 people in 2011 to 7.1 per 100 people in 2019.
TGA Mobility unveiled the latest addition to its award-winning WHILL powered wheelchair range at Naidex.
