Article Series
Author: Rehabilitation Alliance Hong Kong
Publication Year: 2024
The United Nations “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” encourages individuals with disabilities to actively participate in society and integrate into it. With the increasing popularity of electric wheelchairs, the population of people with disabilities using electric wheelchairs has increased. In particular, we found that during the COVID-19 pandemic, many friends with mobility issues faced worsening physical conditions and needed to use wheelchairs for mobility, many of whom directly used electric wheelchairs.
If you use an electric wheelchair or have family members who do, you may share the feeling that during holidays, when the time spent outside is extended, or in the hot summer weather, the battery consumption of the electric wheelchair accelerates, raising concerns about suddenly running out of power, which can be very troublesome. It is common to suddenly deplete the battery; without power, it is difficult to continue traveling, and it is not as lightweight as a manual wheelchair, which can be pushed by oneself. Even with family assistance, it can be challenging to push, and forcing it can lead to injury. There is a demand for charging facilities among individuals with disabilities who use electric wheelchairs.
The current Design Manual was established in 2008, when manual wheelchairs were commonly used, and there were not many disabled individuals and elderly people using electric wheelchairs, so many standards were based on manual wheelchairs. However, the situation has changed significantly, and past standards can no longer keep up with social realities. The Design Manual should add a chapter on electric wheelchair charging facilities, set standards, and address the needs of disabled individuals in this aspect.
If you or your family use electric wheelchairs, do you have any experiences or opinions to share with us? For example, where should charging facilities for electric wheelchairs be provided? What should be the number of installations? How should the charging facilities be distributed?
