Segways for Patients

[Kinky]

quote:Originally posted by Segway Long Island

I#8217;ve got an idea and I#8217;d like some opinions. I followed the Segway like most on this board since its mere mention 2 years ago, ordered one the very first day and although I haven#8217;t tried it yet, my training is days this weekend.

Although DK has been a medical engineer his whole adult life, has anyone talked or mentioned using HTs for patients with ambulatory problems?

I#8217;m a family physician and I can think of a heck of a lot of my patients who will benefit from this!!

As we get older, the size of the world we travel in becomes progressively smaller until in our later years we become limited to very short distances from home and eventually become... homebound.

Besides advancing age, diseases can contribute to shrinking our world. Respiratory and cardiac diseases such as Emphysema, Chronic Bronchitis, Angina, etc. can limit our walking capacity due to shortness of breath or chest pain.

Osteoarthritis patients often complain that the effort and pain of walking can limit their ability to travel within the community, even thought they can stand and balance.

For all these patients, it is not standing...but the work of walking that limits them and their mobility.

I#8217;m thinking of putting my Segway in my office (when not on it!) and doing demo rides on say, Tuesday nights, for patients I think might be helped. There are a lot of patients in my community that are beyond a car and its problems of cost, repair, parking, etc. yet they are
active enough to stand on a Segway. They aren#8217;t handicapped enough to need a wheelchair (sorry Dean, Ibot) but walking alone is too much.

When the #8220;P#8221; comes out and the price comes down, maybe health insurance would pick up a part of the tab in patients where it was medically necessary!

Does this make sense to anyone or am I just going batty counting the days?

As a person with Spina Bifida who has used canes for mobility most of my life, I can tell you that I will be on my Segway 90% of the time. My joints, elbows especially are shot and my back suffers from the strain as well. I need a mobility device that is easily transportable and can fit into the trunk of my Mazda Protege so an electronic wheelchair or scooter won't cut it for me. And a manual wheelchair (which I use as alternative transportation) also wears out the shoulders. Living in the DC area, I have the opportunity to attend conferences and meetings designed to educate the disabled community on new initiatives coming out from this current administration. One is that most states already will reimburse the cost of any quality of life inhancements needed by persons with disabilities. Check with your state representatives. Anyway, no matter the cost I have ordered mine and I'm waiting with credit card in hand.