Common Wheelchair Accessories

Wheelchair accessories are adapted and updated as new models of manual and power wheelchairs are developed. New wheelchairs accessory technology can keep patients safer and more comfortable.

Users have become more active, requiring better materials and additional features for improved stability and maneuverability. Wheelchair seating attempts to fulfill many competing goals including supporting posture, managing pressure, promoting function, and enabling safe transportation. Seat height, width, and depth can all be changed, as well as the way the front wheels work, addition of backrests and wheelchair cushions, and controls can even be added to standard designs. People who have special needs often have custom wheelchairs built.

Accessories such as drink and cup holders, bags and packs, carriers, and holder, push gloves, or trays. These accessories defiantly help increase the ease of the user and add comfort to difficult tasks. The United States Access Board (ATBCB) has done human subject testing to determine the amount of energy required for persons with and without disabilities to negotiate various outdoor surfaces. The physiological measures (oxygen consumption, heart rate, velocity, and ratings of perceived exertion) and level of difficulty ratings was shared with different mobility companies for use in design of wheelchairs and accessories. It was also found that users with good upper extremity function did not wish to have some accessories on the wheelchair, because they may interfere with movement.

Cup holders typically do not come with a new mobility chair. Yet, they can be easily purchased from a wheelchair store or an online retailer for around $10 to $30. Cup holders are but one trivial detail of course, and most users don’t consider them necessary, but on the American front users find it gives a better overall mobility experience. They allow a morning cup of Joe or and energy drink to be close at hand while the seat is occupied.