Mobility aids are used to help people walk and move around more easily, they help enable mobility. Mobility aids are used when it is difficult for people to move freely by themselves, for example when a person gets older moving about can become more challenging and so aids are used to help them. It is not just the elderly who use mobility aids, any person with a disability may need to use a mobility aid as well. A person with a hurt or broken leg may need to use crutches to get about for a certain amount of time until the leg is healed, or they may need a wheel chair, there are numerous mobility aids that can be used to enable mobility.

What are some examples of mobility aids?

Wheel Chair - a wheel chair is probably one of the most known about mobility aid as they are seen about a lot for example in hospitals. A wheel chair is a chair that is placed on two large wheels. The wheel chair has handles at the back which allows for a person to push the chair along, or the person in the wheel chair can push the wheels around and maneuver the chair that way. There are many different wheel chairs you can buy today for example there is the standard wheel chair, the standard lightweight chair, paediatric wheelchair, and even wheel chair accessories such as chair waterproof covers and cushions.

Mobility Scooter- is an electric scooter. They are similar in nature to the wheelchair apart from they are electric and so no manual force is required and they have the steering handles in front of the chair. Mobility scooters are great to help people get about with ease, they can be easily taken apart for quick storage either at home or in the boot of the car. Most mobility scooters have a basket on the front which is great for storage for the rider to place their belongings, whether its their handbag, or the items they buy shopping, the scooter makes popping down to the shops as easy as 1-2-3.

Walking Frames and Walking Sticks- these are used to help people to walk who don't feel comfortable putting a lot of pressure on their body. Have a walking frame or walking stick relieves some of the weight that is put on the body while walking. If a person has a hurt leg or knee for example they can use a walking frame or walking stick to help them along.

There are many more mobility aids available today these are just a few of them, sometimes people have a few aids and use certain ones depending on the activity, for example if it is a long day shopping then a mobility scooter would probably be best or if they are walking about the house then a walking stick is used.