Wheelchairs are mobility aids that can greatly improve your quality of life if you have mobility issues. Choosing the right one is important to help you move around according to your needs. Whether it’s a manual or an electric one, you need to talk to your doctor or therapist to understand what will best suit you, assess your physical situation in terms of what your micro conditions are (for example, do you have ulcers?) and then make an optimal choice. 

Some questions you should ask yourself when buying a wheelchair are whether you will be pushing your chair yourself, or will someone push you, how often will you use it, do you need cushions to prevent pressure ulcers, do you need to recline, will you go out a lot, do you need an athlete’s wheelchair, how will you transport it and what your insurance covers. Accordingly, you can go ahead and look at options.

There are a few things that are essential to buying the right wheelchair. Firstly, there’s weight of the wheelchair. The lighter the frame, the easier it will be to lift and move about in. The cost of lightweight wheelchairs however can be high, so most standard chairs have steel frames. The lighter ones have aluminium frames. Also consider the detachable parts of a wheelchair when evaluating weight — the more parts that can be removed, the lighter the wheelchair can be. Then there’s storage ability. Most wheelchairs fold when the seat is pulled up. A range of parts can also detach such as the footrest, arms and wheels, making storage even easier.

The frequency with which you will use the wheelchair is also a key factor. Some wheelchairs are designed for occasional use, such as short trips or appointments, while others are more suited to constant use. The latter offer more comfort and pressure relief and are overall more comfortable. The seat size should be suitable for you so that your weight is evenly distributed on the seat area. This will prevent sores. If you find it difficult to get up from a wheelchair a higher seat is more beneficial. And it shouldn’t be too wide, because then you won’t be able to use the handrests for support properly.

Most standard wheelchairs have fixed backrest heights and some reclining capacity. 
You can get adjustable angle back rests but these are found on more specialist chairs which cost more. You can buy optional headrests which can be fitted to any wheelchair. This supports the head if you get fatigued sitting on the chair.

You can get mobility chairs for elderly through MobiCrew, the wheelchair accessibility app.