Rollator
A rollator or walker is a mobile walking aid that usually consists of a support rod with wheels.
Function and structure
The rollator serves permanently or temporarily as a permanent support for disabled or physically weak people. One advantage of rollators is that their users - unlike walking sticks , forearm crutches or walking frames without wheels - do not have to lift them off the floor. They give more stability when walking and standing and prevent the risk of falling and any injuries that may result from it. The disadvantage is that rollators are not suitable for climbing stairs.
There are two variants of rollators: The classic model made of metal or carbon tubes can be used universally; Wooden models, on the other hand, are primarily intended for indoor use. Rollators for outdoor use usually consist of an aluminum or carbon frame with four wheels at the bottom and two handles at the top of the frame. The front wheels are usually steerable and the handles are height adjustable. In early versions, the ground contact points of the wheels form a regular square, in newer models a trapezoid, which improves stability. To further increase safety when sitting, standing and propping up, rollators also have lockable brakes . Conventional, lightweight rollators weigh around 5 to 10 kg and are designed for a maximum load of around 130 kg.
Usually the walking aids are equipped with additional accessories, e.g. B. with seats, backrests, trays and cup holders, with transport baskets or bags and with holders for umbrellas or walking sticks. Most rollators can be easily folded for transport by car or public transport. Newer models are folded lengthways in the direction of travel and can also stand freely when folded.
variants
Special forms of classic rollators
So-called delta wheels, delta-wheeled wheels or three-wheel wheeled wheels are very similar to the rollator. With only one front wheel and two rear wheels, their points of contact form a triangle. This makes them more mobile but also less stable than four-wheeled walkers.
A number of special rollators have been developed for people with special clinical pictures. For example, there are rollators for patients with multiple sclerosis that can be converted into a wheelchair in a few simple steps. On the other hand, rheumatism sufferers who have poor grip receive rollators with additional forearm supports. Instead of handles, they also have circumferential brackets on which users can lean and brake at the same time.
Other variants are wooden rollators for use in apartments. They are designed to be particularly narrow to make it easier to pass through narrow room doors and hallways. They are available in different colors to match the furniture.
Orthopedic scooter
Another special form is the orthopedic roller for foot relief. It has been used mainly in Anglo-Saxon countries since the mid-1980s, where it is known as an orthopedic scooter, knee walker or leg trolley . Depending on the manufacturer, the three- or four-wheeled walking aid is intended for patients who are not allowed to put weight on one foot due to an injury or after an operation. The scooter has a steering linkage and a height-adjustable, ergonomically shaped knee cup into which the user kneels with one leg. He uses his sound leg to move around in a similar way to a normal scooter. Compared to a wheelchair user, it remains more flexible, avoids muscle breakdown in the healthy leg, but at the same time protects the injured foot. The advantages of the orthopedic scooter over crutches are that it is less strenuous to use, that its users have their hands free and that they enjoy greater stability. The disadvantage is that the scooters are just as unsuitable for climbing stairs as other rollators or wheelchairs. Newer models are therefore equipped with holders for crutches so that the patient can fall back on them if necessary. In addition, these models have shock-absorbing wheels, so that they can be used both indoors and outdoors.
Rollators for animals
There are also walkers for animals, such as a roller frame for dogs suffering from dachshund paralysis . These frames consist of two wheels that are connected to one another by a bracket. A suspension is attached to the bracket, in which the trunk and rear legs of the animal are stored. The dog reaches the ground with its forelegs and can thus move independently and continuously. Animal rollators are usually custom-made.
History and dissemination
precursor
As a forerunner of today's rollators, walking aids for children that have been known since the 15th century can be considered. They, too, already consisted of frames that were fitted with rollers and which usually supported the children under the arms. During the First World War , numerous medical aids were redeveloped due to the high number of disabled people. In 1916, for example, the magazine Die Umschau published by Heinrich Bechhold described and illustrated a "steerable 'wheel'" for adults for the first time. It had three wheels, a handlebar with handles and, like the early learning walking aids, two forearm rests.
The immediate forerunner of today's rollator is the four-legged walking frame, also known as the walking frame, which the British William Cribbes Robb applied for a patent in 1949. The simple linkage did not initially have any wheels. In later models, two supports were provided with rollers. These walking aids give their users more stability than z. B. walking sticks, but unlike rollators, they have to be lifted and put down again before each step. Since this is exhausting for many patients in the long run, they are hardly suitable for longer distances and are usually only used indoors. A similar walking aid was patented in the USA in 1957 and was the first to have four castors. However, it did not establish itself on the market.
The orthopedic scooter, which was invented in 1986 by the British Michael Reid, is based in principle on lower knee prostheses - without rollers or wheels - that have been in use since the Middle Ages, possibly since ancient times. The scooter was added to the medical history collection of the London Science Museum in 1993.
Today's rollators
The walker in its modern form was invented in 1978 by Aina Wifalk from Sweden , who was herself unable to walk due to polio . She added hand brakes and a seat to rest on the four-wheeled walking frame. Thanks to its robust linkage and its larger wheels, the front wheels of which were steerable, the device was also suitable for outdoor use, thereby increasing the mobility of the user. Through the Swedish Development Fund, Aina Wifalk got in touch with a company that was making a prototype. Over time, the product name rollator established itself as a generic term in numerous languages .
Since the 1990s, rollators have also been widespread in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and can be prescribed by a doctor. The sales of rollators have multiplied since their introduction. In Germany, for example, over 425,000 units were sold in 2012, and in 2016 it is estimated that up to three million people regularly used a walker. In addition to medical supply stores and internet retailers, large supermarkets and sometimes discounters now also offer rollators as promotional goods .
Orthopedic scooters for foot relief have been widespread, especially in England and the USA, since the late 1980s. In Germany, these devices are still little known.
Legal classification and norms
In Germany, rollators are recognized aids for statutory health insurance . The GKV's aids directory lists them under the product group 10.50.04.1 as "four-wheeled walking aids (walkers)". The costs for a rollator that is necessary for medical reasons, be it for the purchase or the loan, are covered by the health insurances, but mostly only up to the amount of the standard rate.
According to a decision by the Recklinghausen District Court in 2014, a landlord has to tolerate a handicapped tenant putting down his folded rollator next to the front door if no one is impaired or handicapped.
Within the EU , rollators must meet the European standard EN ISO 11199 Part 2 of August 2005.
Rollator as a symbol of age
In the general perception, the rollator stands today, as it used to be for. B. the glasses or the walking stick, for being old in itself. It has also become an iconic image of aging in modern pop culture, for example in film or music.
This is the name of a British senior rock band whose songs address the problems of growing old and immobility, The Rooms . The name goes back to the brand name zimmer frame ( zimmer for short ) of the manufacturer Zimmer Biomet Holdings , which is common in British English as a generic name for rollators. The oldest rock band in Hessen is called Die Rollators .
literature
- The new freedom has four wheels. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung . May 11, 2008, p. 46.
- Stiftung Warentest : Rollators Only two out of twelve walking aids in the test are good. In: Test , No. 3/2019, (online) .
- Sabine Raabe: Analysis of the living situation of older people and development of a transport and walking aid. o. O. 2001, DNB 965356027 (Dissertation University of Kassel 2001, 1 CD-ROM).
- Ellen Willemse: Prayer ?! Toekomstbeelden van technology in de Zorg . Ed .: Stichting Toekomstbeeld der Techniek, Foundation Study Center for Technological Trends. The Hague 2015, ISBN 978-94-91397-11-0 , pp. 119 (Dutch, online [PDF; 5.8 MB ] full text).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Paul Roberts, Susan Carnes: The Orthopedic Scooter. An Energy-Saving Aid For Assisted Ambulation. In: The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. No. 72, 1990, pp. 620-621.
- ↑ Benjamin K. Kocher et al .: Comparative Study of Assisted Ambulation and Perceived Exertion With the Wheeled Knee Walker and Axillary Crutches in Healthy Subjects. In: Foot & Ankle International. No. 37, 2016, pp. 1232-1237.
- ↑ Heinrich Jakob Bechhold (ed.): The look around. Weekly on advances in science and technology . No. 11/1916, p. 220; quoted from: The first rollator. In: Spectrum of Science . No. 3/2016, p. 78 (PDF; 1.1 MB) .
- ↑ D. Webling, M. Driver: Early bent knee prostheses: Ancestors of K9. In: British Medical Journal. Volume 293, Dec 1986, pp. 20-27.
- ↑ Aina Wifalk - Rollators . ( Memento of August 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) innovationsinspiration.se, accessed October 29, 2010 (Swedish).
- ↑ Rollators - development of sales, turnover and average price up to 2012. In: Statista. Retrieved May 8, 2018 .
- ↑ Cornelia Färber: The rollator is irreplaceable for many senior citizens. Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, September 15, 2016, accessed on October 27, 2016 .
- ^ Recklinghausen district court, judgment of January 27, 2014, Az. 56 C 98/13.
- ↑ Tobias Bolsmann: The symbol of aging. In: derwesten.de. May 21, 2013. Retrieved October 27, 2012 .
- ↑ Hessen's oldest rock band "rolls through the pension". In: Wetterauer-Zeitung.de. August 20, 2010, accessed April 21, 2012 .