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Friday, April 3, 2009

Wheelchair Diffusion blogs about the Tailwind Power Assist Wheelchair

I wanted to share information with my readers about a power assist wheelchair that Ziggi wrote about over at his informative blog Wheelchair Diffusion. He provides an excellent explanation of what power assist wheelchairs are.

These are power systems that are added to a manual wheelchair or come as a matched component of a manual wheelchair. They are used to improve mobility for people who have marginal pushing ability, to avoid shoulder injury or rest injured shoulders, and for those wheelchair users who require powered mobility in a compact transportable form.

The Tailwind is, apparently, the rebirth of the iGlide, with some important changes based on consumer feedback. It has more customization, for example, but go over and read about it on Wheelchair Diffusion.

Here's a few YouTube Videos of the Tailwind going up a steep hill.


7 comments:

FridaWrites said...

I would love that kind of chair and it's something I would consider at some point, depending on function and upper spine issues. I know I can't steer a manual for very far at all.

I like the compactness, that's a really nice thing. That kind of chair is nice for travel or really tight places. There are advantages to a scooter (I can turn my body on the chair without moving the whole scooter, for example), but there's a lot to be said for compact and easy to travel.
One place I'd like to apply to work won't fit power chairs or scooters into the elevator but can hold manuals.

FridaWrites said...

I'd also be panicky on that ramp/hill in the video! That is steep.

Ruth said...

Frida- A friend of mine is very interested in this chair too and I'm hoping to see a demo of it. That hill is scary steep and I think that's snow/ice on it too...

FridaWrites said...

I've read some reviews of power assist chairs before (United Spinal?) and they've not been highly positive. I don't know about this particular model but am hoping these technologies improve over time.

Ruth said...

Frida-
I've read mixed reviews too and they're very expensive. Someone told me Magic Wheels are good, but they're 5000 or 6000 dollars- out of range for most unless you get approved, of course, which these days is tough.

Ruth said...

Aji,
Thanks for reading :) Glad you enjoy the blog.

wheelchairs said...

I really appreciate your post and you explain each and every point very well.Thanks for sharing this information.And I’ll love to read your next post too