Why getting the right wheelchair is so important

Opinion: it is essential that every adult and child has access to the right wheelchair at the right time with the right backup supports

There is constant talk about the importance of staying active, keeping physically fit and looking after your mental health. Yet, as a wheelchair user, if your wheelchair breaks down, you could end up confined to bed, waiting for someone to fix your wheelchair. There are limited emergency services and no AA to come to the rescue. It means no school, no work, no play. It doesn't feel great, does it?

Wheelchair use does not discriminate. One in one hundred people in Ireland require a wheelchair - that's over 40,000 people - and any of us could become a wheelchair user at any stage of our life. Understanding the importance of getting the right wheelchair is key.

As a child, you may require one if you have cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, cancer or spina bifida. Ireland has one of the highest number of children born with spina bifida globally and most of them will need to use a wheelchair from an early age.

We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

From RTÉ 1's Prime Time, report on motorised wheelchair users who have great difficulty in getting their wheelchairs repaired and so find themselves stuck at home as a result

In adulthood, you can experience stroke, be diagnosed multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, diabetes, or spinal cord injury. Two to three people a week sustain a spinal cord injury in Ireland, with approximately 60% of people needing a wheelchair as a result, the majority being in their late forties or over.

In older age, you can become frail and lose mobility for many reasons. Daily, we hear about people being diagnosis with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Around 25,000 people live in nursing homes and 80% of people will need a wheelchair.

It is essential that every citizen has access to the right wheelchair, at the right time, with the right back up supports. Yet currently getting access to the wheelchair you need is complex. Is this something you’ve thought about? The unknown world of wheelchairs! Who would you call if you needed a wheelchair? Would you know what you needed and what questions to ask? Ireland has no national policy or guidelines to ensure wheelchair services are appropriate and readily available.

From RTÉ Radio 1's Ray D'Arcy Show, James McGill on his experiences of socialising as a wheelchair user

A wheelchair, if you need one, is a gateway to freedom, for you and your family. It is not just a piece of equipment to get you from A to B, but is an essential primary assistive technology for survival, a basic human right. You can't do anything without your wheelchair. The right wheelchair should allow you to sit well, provide the right postural support and be designed to meet your lifestyle needs, for work, rest and play.

Remember we are all different, with different needs, wants and desires. When you think about it, the clothes and shoes you choose, the style, colour, comfort, fit, they need to be right for the right occasion. What is it like to wear a pair of shoes that are too big or too small? It’s uncomfortable to walk, you can’t go very far, and you’ll feel pain and perhaps get blisters. You can’t think about anything else but taking those shoes off and changing into something more comfortable.

Similarly with a wheelchair, it can have major implications for a person’s overall health and wellbeing if it's not a proper fit. It impacts your physical and mental health and your ability to feel well and confident.

From RTÉ Radio 1's Today WIth Claire Byrne, Evelyn O'Rourke talks to wheelchair user Daniel Airey about the shortage of wheelchair user supports

If you think about growing and developing children, you can’t keep them in shoes. It is no different for a child needing a wheelchair where regular review and timely access to the right wheelchair is critical to avoid children becoming squashed in their wheelchair. While it can make sense to compare a wheelchair to shoes, remember you can walk without shoes, but you can’t go anywhere without your wheelchair.

A wheelchair is your legs, freedom and moon buggy - and it needs to be right. It is part of your body, part of who you are. One size does not fit all, it’s not a one stop shop. Getting the right wheelchair, making alterations and repairs is a real challenge in Ireland. Meeting your individual needs is complex.

Knowing how to access appropriate wheelchair services is important to get you moving, get you out there, looking and feeling good, however it is not straight forward. You need to be able to access a service that has the knowledge, skills, and resources to assist you to get your wheelchair and be sure you have backup just in case something goes wrong. Ireland has no visible pathway to access wheelchair services and no national policy or specific guidelines to ensure there are suitable services, skilled personnel, quality products and supply.

A wheelchair is your legs, freedom and moon buggy - and it needs to be right

Much research has been done, many questions have been asked in the Dáil and there have been numerous articles and discussions in the media over the years like this one, calling for a national review of wheelchair services in Ireland. Progress, though, has been slow.

But for the first time, there is hope and a shift in political will to address wheelchair provision as relevant to the whole of society. The launch of the World Health Organisation Global Report on Assistive Technology by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Minister of State for Disability Anne Rabbitte, indicates some commitment to improving access to Assistive Technology for All. We have also seen the publication of new WHO wheelchair provision guidelines. Minister Rabbitte has committed to support a national task force to review wheelchair service provision. This is a welcome commitment, but the devil is always in the detail.

All of us will face an unnecessary vulnerability and could live in fear if current challenges to getting the right wheelchair, at the right time with the right backup supports are not addressed. Remember: any of us could become a wheelchair user at any stage of our life.

International Wheelchair Day is March 1st

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ

Why getting the right wheelchair is so important

More stories on

Rosie Gowran