When it comes to prescriptive powerchairs, there are a selection of big names in the marketplace. You may well be familiar with a few of them. Certainly, if you have experience of these products, you’ve likely encountered a Sunrise powerchair. The core of the Sunrise Medical prescriptive powerchair range continues to be the tried and tested Quickie line. This selection extends from off-the-peg folding powerchairs, such as the ultra-lightweight Q50 R Carbon, all the way to high-end prescriptive standing powerchairs such as the Q700 UP M.
The recent Sunrise powerchair training session, which this blog article is about, focused on entry-level to mid-range Quickie powerchairs. The products which the Basildon training session focused on were as follows:
Powerchair Drive Wheel Information
If you are wondering what those different letters in the product names refer to, they are related to the drive type. R stands for “Rear wheel drive” This is the most common drive wheel configuration for entry-level powerchairs. Rear wheel drive prioritises stability. This helps smaller and lighter powerchairs, like the Q50 R, shown below, stay stable and perform better outdoors than their size suggests.
That “M” in the Sunrise powerchair names listed, stands for “Mid-wheel drive”
Mid-wheel drive is an increasingly common drive type amongst powerchairs. It offers an appealing combination of stability and manoeuvrability. Increasingly, it is the “go-to” for prescriptive powerchairs. The Q300 M Mini is a powerchair designed to take full advantage of its drive configuration, with a minimal turning circle, set up for tighter spaces.
In the past, mid-wheel drive was considered to be primarily an indoor configuration. But, with advances in technology, it’s being seen as a mobility solution for both indoor and outdoor requirements.
Because of this technological advance, products such as the Q500 M have really been coming into their own as a favoured option. The Q500 M can be considered part of the “new breed” of mid-wheel drive powerchairs which the main players in the game: Permobil, Sunrise Medical, Invacare etc, have begun bringing to market. Increasingly, this means that rear-wheel drive, and, particularly, front-wheel drive powerchairs, are becoming more of a specialist item. The next blog article will dive a bit deeper into the Sunrise powerchair training session.