Page 16 - HME Business, September/October 2020

rounding out their “good, better, best” product lineups for all their retail categories. Whether it’s lift chairs, grab bars, rollators, or canes, design and product innovation must be a consideration.
MOBILITY AIDS 2.0
Bearing that in mind, let’s consider a corner- stone of senior medical equipment: walkers and rollators. HME providers need to toss the industry term “bent metal” into the wastebasket and start thinking about how they can differentiate with basic mobility aids. Both Stander’s Holland and LifeWalker’s Shugert know this fact very well, as their companies are dedicated to take these sorts of products to the next level.
In the case of LifeWalker, one of their premier offerings is the UPWalker, an innovative take on the rollator that lets users stand fully upright while using the device, rather than leaning over it, which is usually the case when using traditional walkers and rollators. Two bars rise up on either side of the user, and attached to them are two armrests with handles and brake controls. Its development came about after Shugert watched his family face the Catch 22 of trying to stay active by using devices that he felt were didn’t fully deliver.
“My parents and grandparents were advocates of staying active as long as you can,” he recalls. “Using mobility as medicine was their mantra as well as use it or lose it! ... When my 101-year-old grandmother and mother-in-law started complaining about avoiding active lifestyles because of the pain in their wrists, back and joints while using their rolla- tors I started down the path of developing a better mousetrap called the UPWalker to replace this
40-year-old, obsolete technology.”
Interestingly, that better mousetrap owes a bit to
race cars. By standing more inside the UPWalker, users are safer than trailing behind the device.
“I am an engineer by education and learned that, when center of gravity and downward forces are moved inside contact points on the ground (wheels), stability is created,” Shugert explains. “I liken the concept to race cars which push wheels outward and center of gravity inward between the wheels. We needed to apply these engineering concepts with forearm supports, which allows the user to be supported more by shoulders rather than pushing down on one’s wrists.”
This resulted in the UPWalker’s patented design which, according to Shugert, is the only U.S. company to meets the safety criteria of ISO 11199-3 for upright mobility both indoors and outdoors. And that design has delivered on Shugert’s goal of relieving the pain of using a walking aid.
“A clinical study now validated by a recent survey found our series of UPWalker products result in a more upright posture which provides more efficient processing of oxygen, allowing users to walk two to three times further (when compared to their rollator/walker/cane), experi- ence less pain on the wrists, lower joints and back,” he says. “Rather than looking down at the ground while using a rollator use of the UPWalker allows one to look ahead at eye level with friends, improving dignity and self-esteem. It even helps to improve one’s walking gait too.”
A year ago, LifeWalker refined the original UPWalker to create the UPWalker Lite, which Shugert says “has become a main staple at brick and mortar retailers for the average senior, while the original UPWalker is a more robust product for heavy outdoor use and clinical applications.”
“We are now working on a new senior mobility fitness device which not only encourages a cardio workout by walking but provides an upper body workout for the biceps, triceps, lateral and pectoral muscles too,” he adds. “Look for this product launch in December.”
Stander has been another innovative manu- facturer in the retail space, and that includes
its walkers and rollators as well. Knowing that
easy portability is something seniors need, the company has a patented folding technology for its EZ Fold-N-Go Walker and EZ Fold-N-Go Rollator.
“Our engineers saw one of the main chal- lenges that people have with a walker or rollator,” Holland says. “And that is that they’re not really portable. They’re big, they’re bulky, they’re hard to get around. You can imagine grandma or grandpa trying to put their rollator in the trunk of the car and then walk to the front to get in the car. That’s a nightmare.
So Stander’s engineers saw that a need for something that can fold easily into a super- compact format was needed.
The UPWalker is an innovative take on the rollator that lets users stand fully upright while using the device. The design confers increased stability and reduces back and wrist strain, which means users can keep walking with it for longer.
“It folds up really compact and can go in the front seat of the car with users,” Holland says.
“It can go in the overhead compartment of an airplane, so they don’t have to wait at the jet bridge for checking a walker or rollator. They can just get it and go with them on their trip.
“We know that baby boomers are traveling, so why not offer them something that makes traveling much easier?” he adds. “And that’s really where our folding technology comes in is allowing them to be more free and more mobile.”
INNOVATIVE PROVIDERS
Regardless of what innovative products a provider gets in their showroom, they must innovate in terms of how they retail those items to seniors. Shugert advises leveraging the invest- ments that their vendor partners have made in developing and advancing those products.
“Our DME/HME and brick-and-mortar partners display the product for consumers to use around the store or take a walk outside,” Shugert explains. “We spend many millions of dollars building UPWalker’s brand awareness and product benefits through TV and print advertising, driving consumers to retail stores, which is working. We are even working on cobranded commercial promotions which drive consumers to specific retailers.”
And LifeWalker’s investing in backing the product isn’t limited to advertising. The company also provides a lot of in-store messaging materials to help retailers communicate how UPWalker’s can help seniors lead active lives.
“Our retailers will display a video of the UPWalker showing aspirational outcomes of using the UPWalker outdoors,” Shugert says. “We provide a broad range of POP marketing materials from product hang tags on every product shipped, which shows the benefits of the UPWalker.
“We are even working on a health and fitness program to encourage activity,” he adds “We
The EZ Fold-N-Go Walker and EZ Fold-N-Go Rollator solve a key problem with a lot of older walker and rollator designs: they’re not very trans- portable, even when they do fold. So Stander’s engineers designed rollators and walkers that can fold easily into a super-compact format.
14 HMEBusiness | September/October 2020 | hme-business.com
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