Wheelchair Accessories – Improving Comfort and Increasing Convenience

There is a wide range of accessories available these days, to help increase your comfort, and bring you a greater level of convenience in your daily living.

If you are a wheelchair user, you might not realise that there is a wide range of accessories available these days, to help increase your comfort, and bring you a greater level of convenience in your daily living. Accessories are often easy to install or modify so select them according to your needs and preferences.

Over time, a user’s function may change whilst using their manual or powered wheelchair. Therefore, accessories initially selected, can be changed, or modified to help maintain further independence without having the need to replace the wheelchair. This will help save money, time, and convenience.

Here are some of our most popular accessories available at Glide.

Cushion and backrest

Many wheelchair users do not realise that specialise cushions and backrests are available for purchase independently of the wheelchair. You may notice people using regular pillows or cushions meant for dining seats and sofas, trying to prop up a user to help provide some degree of comfort. Wheelchair cushions and backrests are manufactured using foam, gel, or air and are specially designed and clinically tested to help prevent pressure sores, enhance seating posture, and improve comfort and support.

When you are seated for a prolonged period in your wheelchair, gravity, uncontrolled posture, muscular strength, and stiff joints may have a negative effect on your body. Using a correct cushion and backrest can significantly manage the integrity of skin from breakdown, decrease and manage pain, and improve comfort and overall well-being.

Upper and Lower Body Harness and Pelvic Belt

These may be purchased from Glide or your local distributors who will have the expertise to install them correctly for you. These functional accessories help to maintain seating posture, body stability and head positioning. They help you maintain independence whilst safely using your wheelchair.

Specialty Switches and Hand Rim

If your fine and gross motor hand movements have significantly depreciated in range and flexibility, using these special accessories will help. Joystick style and position switches, knobs and hand rims can enable you to safely control and move the wheelchair.

Bag Holder and Storage

A bag holder or a custom-built carrying case makes storage and transport easier to manage and traveling much more convenient. They come in many designs. You can keep your keys, reading materials, glasses, water bottles, snacks, medications, or even your laptop close and within your reach. Bags can be hung on the back of the wheelchair, attached to the side, or made to fit the bottom of your seat. Storage boxes can be built into your armrests as well, so you have easy access to all your essentials.

Wheelchair Tray, Crutch, Oxygen holder

Ever find yourself needing an extra surface to work on or for eating and drinking? You may have a hobby that you enjoy, like putting puzzles together, or maybe you need to write and study. It is sometimes not easy to position yourself right next to an available table. A tray can be attached to your wheelchair reducing the need to transfer in and out of your wheelchair constantly. A clear or transparent tray is discreet and even helps those who have trouble with depth perception.

A crutch or an oxygen holder are also accessories that can be mounted onto your wheelchair to help make travel and transport much easier for you.

Cup, Phone and Tablet holder

There is a reason why cars, prams and supermarket trolleys all seem to have a cup holder. Cupholders can be securely mounted and screwed on which offers stability. This small but essential feature is used much more often than you realise, especially when you find yourself needing to take medication and have a drink.

Device holders are great for holding everything in place, keeping them safe from damage when you are traveling around. You can choose to have a phone or tablet device holder installed for easier accessibility.

The Right Accessories for You

Wheelchairs are no longer seen as merely something you use to move a person from one location to the next. Wheelchairs provide a sense of dignity and comfort to the user. Accessories are created to meet different needs and requirements, helping to improve your quality of life and increase mobility. It leads to less worry, makes day to day living more manageable, and may even improve your sense of happiness and well-being.

Your chair. Your way.

As one of Australia’s leading wheelchair manufacturers, Glide Products specialises in wheelchair accessories and spare parts. Glide offers a range of power-assisted chairs, together with power add-on kits for manual models, designed to give you an extra boost of power whenever you need it.

Explore our spare parts or contact us for more information. For more information on power add-ons, read our article or check out the full range on the Glide website here.