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Tara Moss
Tara Moss
Follow along on an accessible trip to Italy
Meet Tara – a bestselling author and disability advocate, who recently was on a trip to Italy with her byACRE rollator. Read Tara‘s travel story when she visited Pompeii and Herculaneum with her Carbon Ultralight:
“I had my first ever experience with an accessible travel company since becoming disabled, and using my rollator allowed me to see much more on this special day than I possibly could have otherwise. On the day I was able to manage with the support of my byACRE rollator walker, Ruby, so Hera, my wheelchair, stayed at home.
There have been efforts to make these ancient sites more accessible, and you can see some of the pathways here. Sage Travelling rates Pompeii as two stars for accessibility due to the uneven terrain. Stairs and inclines can be avoided by knowing the right paths to take, and you can often get free entry at these sites and at a museums in Naples by showing your disability card, so my advice is to take it with you. Some areas are simply inaccessible for those of us with limited mobility and using mobility aids, however.
Herculaneum is a smaller site, and gets four stars from Sage as it is more accessible. It was my dream to see Pompeii and with this accessible tour I was able to get both. I saw such beautiful sights!
This was a once in a lifetime experience for me, and one I will always cherish.”
“Greetings from glorious Galleria Umberto I, Naples, with my versatile and supportive byACRE rollator walker, Ruby. I’m here researching my fifteenth book – a third Billie Walker historical mystery set in Naples, 1948.
You can’t get it from a textbook or a Google search. The character that is the city you write about must be met in person.”
“The byACRE Carbon Ultralight is made of light carbon fiber so it – or me – could be carried if needed, and that made it a good choice here. It was brilliant on the road, and fit into tiny taxis and folded sideways into shops when I needed it to. Don’t let anyone tell you that mobility aids are ‘only’ for seniors, or that needing mobility aids makes you lesser”
“Accessibility is tricky but so far my rollator has been a total champion, managing the cobblestone with surprising ease.”
Thank you Tara for sharing your wonderful experience with your Carbon Ultralight with us.
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Read more inspiring travel stories
Our Top 8 Design Objects Changing Seniors’ Lives
Our favorite 8 Design Objects Changing Seniors’ Lives
When you think of products designed for seniors, what comes to mind?
Most likely, you think of things that are grey, hospital-like and clunky – depressing stuff with seemingly minimal aesthetic consideration.
That’s because product design for seniors have had a bad reputation for many years. Up until recently, it has been hard to learn about products made for seniors that didn’t fit under that cold and clammy aesthetic. Thankfully, the past few years have seen a boom in startups focusing on product innovation collide with a cultural interest in breaking the stereotypes around aging and what it means to be ‘old’. As a result, clunky and cold objects for seniors are becoming a thing of the past, now making room for objects and tools that are fun, easy to use, aesthetically appealing and smartly designed.
To give you a quick overview of the range of innovative designs for seniors that are out there, we’ve compiled a list of our Top 8 products.
Exercising in water sounds great and all, but it easily gets exhausting, even for the most fit people. Luckily, innovation house IDEO’s Munich office came up with a solution called Sväv. Upon first glance, it’s a stylish and timeless swimsuit, but looking closer, it’s a powerhouse of support for all shapes and sizes. Sväv has pneumatic features fluidly integrated into the design: as you swim, they fill with air, so no matter what you’re doing in the water, you get lightness, lift and fashion points, too.
Ode
For people with dementia, appetite loss and dramatic weight loss are an unfortunate reality, and makes the disease much harder to keep under control. However, Ode is here to the rescue: it’s a subtle tool you can put in your home to regularly release appetite-stimulating fragrances. According to Ode, it’s quite effective. Upon testing the product’s impact on 50 people living with dementia, their team found that 50% of the participants gained weight of an average of 2 kg over eleven weeks. It’s simple to install, too: simply plug it into an outlet and set the timer to release fragrances for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The Sabi Space Line
Much like us, the company behind Sabi Space was tired of seeing products designed for seniors that screamed ‘old’ and ‘boring’. Enter Sabi Space: a collection of 13 bathroom accessories that primarily cater to aging people, yet could just as easily make their way into the homes of trendy millennials.
The collection is based around pegs which you can mix and match for your comfort and visual taste, whether you want to install one of the Sabi Space towel racks, aluminum bathroom bars or mirrors, these pegs will let you do so without screws and without a struggle.
The packaging has a true-to-size render of the product plus straightforward installation instructions, so you don’t have to give yourself a headache figuring out how to make these things work. Just don’t be surprised if your kids or grandkids want the same set in their bathrooms after seeing yours. It’s that stylish.
Image: WIRED
The OneTrip Grocery Holder
The best thing about this product is you don’t need sore hands or muscles to relate to the problem it solves: almost everybody knows what it’s like to walk out of the grocery store after a particularly large shop, only to have to suffer through your walk home as you try to ignore the pain and discomfort caused by heavy grocery bags digging into your hands.
The OneTrip Grocery Holder eliminates that problem for good – it’s basically a minimalistic, colourful hook you strap your grocery bags into. You can pick from a range of colours and since they sell at $2.50 USD a pop, you can stock up on these lifesavers.
Image via Ebay
Reemo Smart Watch
On first glance, this watch is, well, a functional-looking and unfussy watch. However, it holds far more power than that: Minneapolis-based startup Reemo developed it with seniors and their everyday needs in mind. So, this watch can let you control your lighting, thermostat or locks; receive reminders and alerts; contact your friends and family with a quick tap; and ask for help or assistance through a simple button whenever you need it. Now, we’re just waiting ‘til this thing hits the market!
No, we’re not talking about the big, wide-eyed bird kind of owl. OWL is an acronym for On the Wisdom of Life—which accurately represents the point of IDEO’s ‘elegant time capsule’. It’s basically a minimal and stylish shelf that would compliment any apartment, but it holds 80 glass tubes, meant to represent 80 years of your life. Each year, you write down a reflection on the past year and a hope for the coming year and put it one of the vessels. The tubes that live at the top symbolize the wisdom you’ve earned, while the ones at the bottom symbolize potential for the future.
Image via IDEO
You know that friend you have who just ‘gets’ you? Well, that’s what Omhu is to us. The NYC-based company’s “Aids for Daily Living” collection of objects is inspired by Scandinavian design, the fun yet stylish aesthetic of bicycles and a mentality very much like ours: just because you’re getting older doesn’t mean you have to lose out on your personality. In particular, their ‘Omhu’ cane is a take on the traditional cane that turns it into a modern-looking and useful accessory. These canes are recyclable, designed with easy-to-grip handles, made of lightweight aluminum—and keep you lookin’ like the stylish kid on the block. Oh, and Omhu means ‘with great care’ in Danish—so yeah, this company’s pretty close to us at heart!
Image via DesignBoom
Another IDEO marvel, this time for the Shanghai office. Pit Stop Posts is a line of street furniture designed to help seniors and those who are slower in pace find a place to rest in busy urban areas. They look like minimal walking sticks placed strategically on the street—but really, they’re effective resting posts that can help you hang your shopping bags, lean on something sturdy or help you navigate public transportation.
Image via IDEO
byACRE and Medline cooperation
We’re happy to announce that with our ambitious design, we’ve managed to break through the wall to the US market and we’re happy to announce our partnership with Medline, one of the world’s largest suppliers of equipment for the care and healthcare sector in USA, Canada and Mexico. We are now yet another step closer to breaking down the stigma around mobility aids – worldwide. It’s a huge accomplishment for a small Danish team like us.
January 19, 2021
byACRE, Medline Announce North American Launch of World’s Lightest Rollator
Stylish and award-winning, Carbon Ultralight mobility aid innovation makes US debut
Medline and byACRE, a Copenhagen-based designer and producer of advanced mobility products, today announced a strategic partnership to meet the growing demand for stylish and functional mobility aids. Medline will distribute byACRE’s Carbon Ultralight rollator, the lightest rollator in the world. Winner of the prestigious RedDot Design Award, the carbon fiber rollator has received global recognition for breaking down the stigma related to reduced mobility, with advanced engineering, style and personalization.
“As people age, they often find themselves needing a mobility aid to assist with daily activities of living. It is a vulnerable moment as it can be hard to accept the dependence of an aid like a cane, walker or rollator,” says Anders Berggreen, founder and owner of byACRE. “Our goal is to create high quality mobility products that reflects an individual’s personal style and denotes independence in their everyday mobility. Joining forces with Medline will allow us tap into their infrastructure and strong industry relationships to reach a broad audience of users.”
Weighing in at just 10.6 pounds, the Carbon Ultralight is engineered to reflect the functional needs of each user. The product, available in three colors (black, red and white) and three sizes (compact, regular and wide track) blends style with optimal walking and seated comfort. The acclaimed design was inspired by the automotive industry, and the minimalistic style of Scandinavian design. It folds flat with a single pull, and the light weight makes it easy to lift into the trunk of the car and take it for a spin at the park.
“With the aging population, we’ve had increasing demand for products that account for their young-at-heart mentality,” says Brian Foley, president of Medline’s Equipment & Furnishings division. “What we love about the Carbon Ultralight Rollator is that its sleek, contemporary design doesn’t compromise the quality of the product. This is a game-changer for how we think of mobility aids and the people who use them.”
In addition to design and comfort, the byACRE team behind the Carbon Ultralight rollator has accounted for ease-of-use. Each rollator shipped to the customer comes with an organizer bag and is packaged to use immediately. The consumer can simply unbox, unfold, click and go. There are several accessories that are sold separately, including cane holders, storage bags and backrests, allowing users to customize the products to fit their needs.
The Carbon Ultralight is now available to consumers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico through Medline’s broad-reaching network of retail partners. For more information, visit www.medline.com/go/byacre.
About byACRE
byACRE is a leading international designer and producer of stylish mobility products. Founded in Copenhagen, the heart of Scandinavian’s design hub, the byACRE team combined expertise in engineering, design and visual arts for social good, setting out to create the sleekest, top performing rollators in the market. Since 2017, byACRE’s mindful designs have won some of the world’s most prestigious awards in design and innovation, including the 2019 RedDot Design Award, the 2017 IF Design Award and the Danish Design Award. “by ACRE is our quality seal.” It’s rooted in the words ‘Active’ and ‘Re-Habitare’ – the Latin word for Back to Life. For more information, visit byacre.com.
About Medline
Medline is a healthcare company, being a manufacturer, a distributor and a solutions provider focused on improving the overall operating performance of healthcare. Medline works with both the country’s largest healthcare systems and independent facilities across the continuum of care, to provide the clinical and supply chain resources required for long-term financial viability in delivering high quality care. Having the size of one of the country’s largest companies and the agility of a family-owned business, Medline is able to invest in its customers for the long-term and rapidly respond with customized solutions. Headquartered in Northfield, Ill., Medline has 27,000+ employees worldwide, a fleet of more than 1,000 trucks and does business in more than 90 countries. Learn more about Medline at www.medline.com.
Travel Stories: Verna
Verna from Austin, Texas
This is Verna’s story:
Verna is an artist from Austin, Texas in USA. Her artistry started when she was 34, after she got diagnosed with MS:
“I have been painting since 1998. When I was 32 I had a life-altering experience. Through painting I have found a way to give completely of myself. It shows those I love, who I am, how I feel, and fully exposes my heart. This gives me peace.
I began painting at 34, I was drawn to colors, flowers, life…..I’ve been looking for answers as to why I have suddenly been given this gift. What can I do with it to make a difference?”
Today, her beautiful oil paintings of flower take her all over the country. .
“Travel has been very easy and enjoyable with my byACRE rollator. Pat (my rollator) has been my amazing assistant! So lightweight, agile, and able to travel anywhere. I get to be independent – I love it.
The last trip I did was to Orlando, when I was transporting oil paintings to a customer. Our future trips to Albuquerque, NM and Sedona, AZ will be similar. In January 2023, we are taking a trip to Maui, Hawaii. I have checked with my airline, and I will be able to use my rollator the entire walk to the entrance of the plane. At that point, I will quickly pack it in the travel bag and they will put it in the cargo storage for the flight. When we land in Maui, I will get it back from the cargo hull and I will unpack the rollator – then off I will go to a tropical paradise.
I’m so excited! Thanks to my byACRE rollator and Travel bag, I still have the freedom to travel the world.”
- Get a note from your doctor about why you need a rollator. Laminate the note and attach it to the travel bag. Have an extra for your reference, just in case.
- Label your rollator “Fragile Handle with Care” with your contact information.
- Practice packing your rollator quickly. Practice, practice, practice.
- Travel with a friend if possible, two is better than one.
- Enjoy and relax. It’s easy to do. Safe travels.