Mobility scooters warning

The use of mobility scooters offers "fantastic" benefits,  but a "balancing act" is needed to ensure  beneficial physical activity is also retained.

Prof John Sullivan, of the University of Otago Physiotherapy School, made that point in a talk at the 8th New Zealand/Aotearoa Mobilities Symposium, hosted by the school, and which began yesterday.

Mobility scooters were "fast becoming the transport of choice" for growing numbers of older adults in this country, Prof Sullivan said.

"They allow riders to independently move around in their communities and to participate in activities where and when they choose."

This added freedom created by mobility scooters was "critical" in encouraging people to "stay active in the community" and promoting "ageing in place".

He acknowledged  the freedom to undertake activities in the wider community and  avoiding becoming isolated at home were positive for mental health and morale.

But the ownership of a mobility scooter, while providing this "flexibility and connectivity", required "no physical movement of the self" in order to move around.

"It can thus also inadvertently reduce the amount of actual person-driven, health-related physical activity the individual is capable of, something  essential for healthy ageing."