Remap
For 40 years, this unique charity has been harnessing the skills and creativity of a great pool of volunteers to provide one-off technical aids which help disabled people of all ages to enjoy a better lifestyle. The professional engineers, technicians, and craftspeople - along with medical and paramedical staff from community services and hospitals - all belong to 100 panels (groups) linked to regions across the UK.
It is the bespoke nature of their solutions that makes Remap's work so special. Each aid is individually designed to meet a specific need, and it is given free of charge to the user. Potential projects are referred to the local Remap volunteer panel, which will invariably agree to take on the job, provided there is no commercial solution available, and the safety of the client will not be compromised.
Here are just a few recent Remap projects:
Position
mover
The brief was to assist a client bent double with arthritis and ankylosing spondilitis to change position. This was achieved by making a base unit with chair pivots and actuator points. Supported on this is the chair unit carrying the leg rest and side access gate. Tilt and leg-rest functions are provided by identical electric linear actuators.
This solution enables the client to move more freely into many different positions. His breathing is easier, and he is able to operate his laptop computer and fan unaided.
Pushchair
brake
An epileptic mother was looking for a braking system that would automatically immobilise her child's pushchair if she had a fit while pushing it.
The solution was to connect a brake lever to the brake using a Bowden cable. To release the brake, the client places her wrist under the rod and plastic ball and, by squeezing the brake lever, a small latch falls into place to hold the lever closed. The lever remains closed all the time the wrist is lifting the ball, but if the hand is removed, the ball falls, releasing the latch, which applies the brake.
Automatic
pill dispenser
A client with multiple sclerosis needed a way to take her medication every two hours, day and night, without her husband having to wake up and give it to her.
An automatic battery-powered dispenser was designed, with a geared electric motor initiated either by a bite switch or radio control. This drives a curved rack that carries a pill on edge, which is delivered directly in front of the client's mouth.
This system gives her a measure of independence, and her husband an unbroken night's sleep.
Mouth-operated
turps and water dispenser
A quadriplegic mouth artist liked to switch between oil paints and water colours, with the result that his carer was constantly having to clean his brushes...
A problem resolved by designing a single unit to dispense both turps and water, switching between the two by means of a mouth-operated prod. There is a brush-washing dish with a drain operated by lever action.
This device has enabled the client to work more independently, changing media at will.
Remap is one of the UK's most cost-effective charities and its engineers also think 'green' when it comes to choosing materials for the job. A lawn mower, defunct dishwasher or car parts will, in skilled hands, often become a component of aids that open up new horizons for many hundreds of disabled people.
Remap -
technical equipment for disabled people
Telephone 0845 1300456
Fax 0845 1300789
Website: www.remap.org.uk
