Program recycles assistive technology
As the baby boomer generation ages, companies have found ingenious ways to make life easier for the elderly. People who use walkers, wheelchairs, large-print books and large-handled can openers retain their independence longer and feel less frustrated.
But what happens when a wheelchair is no longer needed?
According to Virginia Taft, director of the Coeur d’Alene Hand Therapy and Healing Center, those items gather dust in closets – or worse.
“A lot of things end up in the dump because people don’t know what to do with them,” Taft said.
With the amount of people who need assistive technology items such as wheelchairs, Taft thinks it is a shame that they might be thrown away. Taft, in association with other volunteers from several agencies in the county and across the state, is promoting a new program called Idaho AT4All, an assistive technology recycling program.
“We want to get that stuff back into the hands of people that need them,” she said.
The program is part of a statewide recycling initiative operated by the Idaho Assistive Technology Project. Real Life Ministries has headed the program for the past five years and, Taft said, it has become the most active in the state.
While wheelchairs and walkers are common, Taft said they are not the only examples.
“Assistive technology can be anything from a large pen to voice-recognition software to a wheelchair,” Taft said. “Most assistive technology is not over $100. A pair of glasses is assistive technology, if you think about it.”
The AT4All program kicks off today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Technology for All Fair at the Coeur d’Alene Library. The fair offers demonstrations from equipment vendors so people can become familiar with what is available. It will also educate visitors on how many items work.
“One of the big problems with assistive technology is a lot of people don’t know how to use it,” Taft said. “There’s a high rate of abandonment. I know a few people who got an electric wheelchair – a $10,000 piece of equipment – and then it doesn’t fit through the doorways.”
The fair is open to both able bodied and disabled people interested in assistive technology. Taft pointed out that as the population ages, more and more people could use equipment and tools that make everyday life easier.
“Most of us who are not in the market for assistive technology will be in (in the future),” she said. “As people live longer and want a better quality of life longer, assistive technology becomes more important.”