With the arrival of an aging society, more senior citizens and persons with disabilities will need to use assistive devices in the future. However, if they are used for a long period of time without regular cleaning and maintenance, the assistive devices will often become hotbeds of germs and bacteria, which may even affect the feeling of using them. In order to extend the service life of assistive devices, today on 16th, Mar. Eden Foundation Accessible Innovation Service Center came to Eden’s Maoan Yi-Fu Community-Based Long-Term Care Service Center, Yilan County to assist the service users and local villagers in cleaning their assistive devices, and at the same time, to guard their health and enhance their comfort in using the devices.

Today on 16th, Mar. Maoan Yi-Fu Community-based Long-term Care Center conducted an assistive device inspection and repair service for its service users and local villagers.
 

Looking at the cleaned wheelchair, Yawen, is 40-years-old and began using a wheelchair five years ago due to a stroke combined with epilepsy. Originally, she was cared for by her husband and mother-in-law, but last year her husband suffered a stroke and her mother-in-law was unable to take care of both of them, so in June of the same year, she was allowed to come to the Eden’s Yi-Fu Community-Based Long-term Care Service Center, Yilan County to receive day-care services. When she first came to the center, she was paralyzed on her right side and was unable to perform fine motor skills such as grasping, so she had to rely on others to help her with her daily activities. However, under the care and companionship of the social workers also caregivers, and after a rehabilitation program, she has progressed to the point where she can use her left foot to move her wheelchair, hold her paintbrush in her left hand to draw, and put on and take off her shoes on her own.

With the help of Eden's social worker, Ms. Yawen was able to sit on a clean wheelchair and enjoy the warm sunshine outside.
 

In addition, 94-year-old granny Dai had not replaced the anti-slip pads on the end of her cane for a long time because she had been using it for a long time, causing the pads to wear out and lose their anti-slip founction, but after cleaning and replacing them, not only did granny feel safe in using it, but she was also able to minimize the risk of falling. Although social workers and caregivers usually help with simple cleaning of the aids, however, the devil is in the details and professional tools are needed for thorough disinfection, maintenance and repair of replacement parts.

94-year-old granny Dai, the service user of Eden, happily uses her crutches after cleaning and replacing the pads.
 

In order to make the senior citizens and persons with disabilities in remote communities feel at ease and safe to use the assistive devices, Eden traveled to Maoan, which is more than 200 kilometers away, to carry out the cleaning service of assistive devices, so that we can turning from the barrier to the accessibility. Mr. Chong-Ching Tu, the Director of Eden’s Accessible Innovative Service Center, said that in order to guarantee the senior citizens with reduced mobility and persons with disabilities have the basic rights of life through the use of assistive devices, the assistive device service tour has been in its 6th year of operation and has served a total of nearly 3,800 people. He believes that aids, like automobiles and motorcycles, require regular maintenance. Problems such as broken handrails, hair stuck in the tires, and rust may affect the experience of using the aids, but through regular cleaning and maintenance, the aids can be used more safely and securely, and he hopes that the importance of aids cleaning can be keep on the minds of everyone.

From high-pressure cleaning, repair to maintenance, Eden handles every step carefully to make the use of aids safer and more secure.
 

Mr. Chien-Chung Chen, the Director of Eden’s Maoan Yi-Fu Community-Based Long-Term Care Service Center in Yilan County, said that assistive devices can help senior citizens and persons with disabilities to promote independent living, ensure safety, and also reduce the pressure of local family care, but if the assistive devices are not regularly cleaned and maintained, the aids are susceptible to damages or malfunctions, which in turn affects the users’ daily lives. This time Eden’s Accessible Innovation Service Center is carrying out the cleaning service of assistive devices, hope that through safe and comfortable assistive devices, senior citizens and persons with disabilities can grow old in place with peace of mind, and at the same time, improve their mobility and self-care ability.

Eden’s Accessible Innovation Service Center carefully replaced the tires of the wheelchair so that the users can use the assistive device more safely.
 

In order to realize the goal of aging and aging in place, Eden 's Yi-Fu Community-Based Long-Term Care Service Center, Yilan County provides full-day and half-day care, home-based care services, and nighttime respite services, so that more senior citizens and persons with disabilities who in care needs can receive diversified and appropriate care and companionship, and so that the caregivers can have a respite and feel at ease to go out to work. Families with service needs are welcome to call us at (03) 9809-388, and people who need assistive device cleaning services are also welcome to call us at (02) 2230-6670, ext. 3603, Mr. Lin.