Walker cum Seating for Elderly

Design for Special Needs Walker cum seating for the elderly in India Guide : Praveen Nahar Nandita Mehrotra

Meha Shetty, FID UG2010

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Brief “To design a walker cum seating for elderly people which is light weight, as well as more cost effective.�

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Why Walker ?

A walker or walking frame is a tool for disabled or elderly people who need additional support to maintain balance or stability while walking.

A walker is a good tool for those who are recuperating from leg or back injuries. It is also commonly used by persons having problems with walking or with mild balance problems.

Walking as an activity have a lot of health benefits that the elderly can be deprived of because of locomotive lack. The advantages of walking include strengthening of heart, low disease risk like dementia and osteoporosis, boosts the level of vitamin D and gives energy.

If the act of walking doesn’t take place especially in the old age, then blood circulation doesn’t happen properly and even they skin slowly starts decaying.

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Understanding User Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and thus the end of the human life cycle. At this age,people often have limited regenerative abilities and are more prone to disease, syndromes, sickness and also face other social issues such as retirement, loneliness, and ageism.

In India a large number of elderly population resides in the old age homes or at times lead an independent lives in their homes where there is nobody to take care of them.

In such a scenario there need to be self sufficient and confident in their day to day activities. Due to bodily ageing, movement in and around their living spaces becomes difficult. They need medical aids that provide them with locomotive support so that they can have a self sufficient living.

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User Study

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Name

: Shardaben

Age

: 70 yrs

Walker Usage

: Since 1 yr

Falls (from walker)

: none

Type of walker

: 2-wheels foldable aluminium height adjustable

Cost

: Rs 2,500

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User Feedback After interacting with Shardaben, a few key points were recorded. From her experience of using a walker, she shared some facts that liked and disliked : • Not suitable for all terrains – cannot be used in soil/ muddy terrain • Tiring activity • Search for a place to rest while walker in use • Folding ability makes it more mobile in nature • Prolonged bending while using walker leads to back pain • Wheels make it easier to manoeuvre Shardaben wants to live a free and independent life but is unable to do so as the walker that she currently is using has constraints that reduce its usability in most situations.

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“A comfortable old age is the reward of a well-spent youth. Instead of its bringing sad and melancholy prospects of decay, it would give us hopes of eternal youth in a better world.�

Maurice Chevalier

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Geriatrics Geriatrics is a specialty of internal medicine and family medicine that focuses on health care of elderly people. It aims to promote health by preventing and treating diseases and disabilities in older adults. There is no set age at which patients may be under the care of a geriatric physician.

Rather, this decision is determined by the individual patient’s needs, and the availability of a specialist.

The bodily transformations lead to a variety of changes in the posture and muscle and bone movement. The products that are made for the elderly follow a different direction in terms of ergonomics as their body movement are not like other individuals.

The visual shows some common noticeable changes that take place in the bodies of the elderly.

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Ergonomics The ergonomic considerations to be taken care of while designing a walker: • The walker should be about the height of the user’s wrists when his or her arms are at their sides.

• When using a walker, the user’s arms should be slightly bent when holding on but the user should not have to bend forward at the waist to reach it.

The walker needs to be adjusted so that it fits the arms comfortably, reducing the stress on the shoulders and back. While stepping inside the walker, and gripping on the handle, the elbows should bend at a comfortable angle of about 15 degrees.

While relaxing the arms at the sides,the top of the walker should line up with the crease on the inside of the wrist.

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Ergonomics of various medical aids along with the space consumed by each.

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Product Usage

Taking your first step If you need to place weight on the walker as you move, start by pushing the walker forward. Keep your back upright.

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Stepping into the Walker Next, place one leg inside the walker.

Don’t step close to the front bar. Keep the walker still as you step in.

Stepping with the other foot Finally, place the other leg inside the walker. Repeat the process by moving your walker forward and stepping into it one leg at a time. If you use the walker only for balance,you can stand inside it and walk as you normally would-simply guiding the walker in front of you

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Available Products

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Scope of Design

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Concept Sketches

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Finalized concept sketch

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Mock- ups

Small mock ups to test the workability were tried out using straws

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Prototyping

Material Purchase Cane was the material used for making this prototype.

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Cutting and knot scraping Cane Cane had to be cut into the required sizes using a hex saw blade. After cutting the pieces, their knots was scrapped off using a knife

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Heat Bending Once the pieces were cut, they were marked and accordingly heat bended. After bending a wet cloth was wiped on the parts that were bended.

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For Seat For the seat a single piece of cane was bent to create a closed loop which was connected using a half lap joint at the ends. This was secured using Araldite.

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Final Assembly The structure was assembled after scraping off the skin from all the finalized bent pieces and then the seat was fitted. Then it was given for a lacquer finish.

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Key Features The design of walker thus developed takes care of all the problems faced by the user. The improved walker can be used in any terrain. It has no wheels but it is extremely light weight and can be very easily lifted and used by the elderly.

In case they feel tired, they can open the seating and sit comfortably. Then after they rest they can resume walking.

One of the main reasons make it in cane was that it made the piece light weight and at the same time, the elderly will connect to it more than the existing walkers available in the market, cane is a warmer and natural material. They would trust this improved walker as it is simplistic and doesn’t involve any complicated metal fixtures or mechanisms.

Also as this walker has an inbuilt seating it doesn’t account for just a medical aid but also as piece of furniture.

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As far as India is concerned, a product like this which is craft based, will help uplift the cane craftsmen in India. Cane being a grass whose cultivation happens in India itself, makes its availability easy.

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Prototype Testing

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Thank You

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