Affordable wheelchair designed for kids

Israel's Wheelchairs of Hope project hopes to give kids access to a chair created especially for them.

Children often have different needs to adults, but that difference isn’t always catered for when it comes to disabled kids, who typically use the same equipment as older people. While Japan recently developed the Magic Carpet roving platform designed to give less mobile toddlers independence, the Wheelchairs of Hope project is now hoping to give kids access to a chair created especially for them.

According to the Israel-based nonprofit, there are 65 million people in the world that require use of a wheelchair, but only 20 million actually have access to them. 5 million of these are children and a lack of affordable and ergonomic design tailored to them is to blame. Wheelchairs of Hope has created a kid-friendly wheelchair made using lightweight plastic and available in a variety of colors. The chair was developed to the specifications of 5-9 year-olds and complies with World Health Organization guidelines. The chair has already been tested among the age group with positive results and costs just USD 100.

Wheelchairs of Hope aims to open production sites in Israel, Tajikistan and Palestinian, with plans to create 1 million of the devices in the next 7 years. Are there other ways to redesign products to help those with specific accessibility needs?