REHACARE says THANK YOU!Post Show Report: REHACARE 2015

Trade Fair and Congress

Self-determined living

REHACARE 2015

Self-determined living, participation, autonomy and inclusion: The international trade fair REHACARE 2015 in Düsseldorf gave new impetus to this objective. People with disabilities, their relatives and an utterly international professional audience showed an interest in the innovations and new developments within the field of rehabilitation, care and inclusion. Almost 39,000 professional and private visitors came together for four days to exchange ideas about assistive devices which enable self-determined living with a disability, a need for care or at an old age.

754 exhibitors from 37 countries presented their individual solutions and innovations for almost every disability and area of life. A good mixture of theme parks, forums and marketplaces gave visitors the opportunity to inform themselves

individually. More than 100 associations and organisations from the self-help and social economy sectors were on hand with advice and addressed issues concerning the current disability and healthcare policy.

The overall result of the event: In 2015, REHACARE again made a major contribution to the protection and development of social participation, self-determination, rehabilitation and

the subject of home care.

Visitor statements on REHACARE 2015 You will find even more visitor statements at: www.rehacare.com/vistor_comments2015

Carlos Perea has his own company in Spain. He is on the look-out for new products and collaborations with other companies to develop new products in the field of mobility. He describes REHACARE with the words meet, cooperation, friendly.

Vincent Siewert’s parents come to REHACARE since their son was born. “We inform ourselves about the latest aids every year. It is important to inform yourself in advance so that you will be advised at eye-level when buying later,” recommends Mr. Siewert. Mrs. Siewert is thinking about buying a powered wheelchair for her son in the near future. “REHACARE is multi-faceted, international and innovative,” say the Siewerts. “There is a good mix of small and large providers.”

Jong Bae Kim is a scientist in the research field at the School of Health Science in South Korea. He is at REHACARE to get to know technologies from other countries and companies. It is his third time at REHACARE this year and he is especially impressed by different robots, such as a robot arm.

Anjana Halt and Bianca Sabott from Lake Constance are making their study for their education in ergotherapy to REHACARE. “We really would like to see everything,” enthuse the two. “We are particularly interested in aids, therapies and assistance dogs. What was great was that we were able to try out prostheses at one booth. REHACARE really provides a lot of interesting things!”

Exhibitor opinions on REHACARE 2015 You will find even more exhibitor statements at: www.rehacare.de/exhibitor_comments2015

dot comes from South Korea and has developed the first braille smart watch. They present it at booth 5/B10. Eric Ju Yoon Kim (CEO) is with his company at REHACARE for the first time. “The real interesting topic of REHACARE is that here are a lot of people working in the same industry. For me REHACARE is the place where are no disabilities.”

Levo AG (5/G33) shows its new development Summit in the sector of standing roller seats. CEO Michael Schwarz tells us that Levo has regularly been at REHACARE since 1992: “REHACARE is the meeting point for industry visitors and representatives. It is very diverse and international. That is the reason why we always come back with pleasure.” For Michael Schwarz REHACARE is characterized by the words informative, well-organised and attractive.

Mauro Carneiro shows us a special stairlift that addresses especially children with its design at the booth of Thyssen Krupp (3/D68). It should also give people who use it a better feeling. “Caring about people” is for him the motto of REHACARE. “We want to help people to design their life at home in a better way. Here we can talk to our customers and we understand what they need. After that we can develop solutions based on their needs,” Mr. Carneiro explains. “That is the reason why we have been at REHACARE for ten years now.“

Bernhard Bornitz, managing director of Vakuform (4/D20), has been to REHACARE for twelve years with Vakuform. Vakuform’s products combine vacuum technology with ultraflexible, skin-friendly neoprene material. “At REHACARE we meet our foreign customers and of course we want to establish new contacts. At the moment we are in talks with an Argentinian company.” The internationality and the size of REHACARE are very special to him. He describes the REHACARE as: international, significant and informative.

Forums, theme parks and much more

REHACARE-Forum

REHACAREForum

REHACARE Forum

The programme of the REHACARE Forum was extremely popular. On the opening day, exciting guests provided great entertainment: Author Mario Ganß, who writes with his foot because of his spasticity, read passages from his book “Behindert? – Was soll’s? (Handicapped? – So What?)”. The assistance dogs made a big impression on all visitors and interested people. The dogs demonstrated what they are capable of. In team play with their owners, they emptied washing machines, fallen- down items were collected and objects were retrieved.

Specialist subjects took the centre stage on the second and third day: As part of the traditional assistive equipment forum by the Bundesverband Medizintechnologie, BVMed Berlin, the focus was on “The Rights and Duties of Patients in the Provision

of Assistive Equipment versus the Reality of the Care”.

The federal association, SELBSTHILFE (self-help), from Düsseldorf reported on “Increasing Participation – Extending the Rights of People with Disabilities”. Reforming the Equality

Act, target agreements for creating disabled access, working with chronic illnesses inside the world of work and the path towards a federal participation act were also

discussed in depth.

The fourth day was dedicated to a suggestion box campaign: Disabled people and relatives having problems with the Provision of Assistive Equipment were able to fill out and submit a survey prior to the fair on the REHACARE portal or at the fair itself. These statements and questions were grouped into various topics and answered by experts on stage. In the afternoon, interesting travel tips about disabled access were handed out to those interested in travelling.

Living with care @home

The demand for knowledge surrounding domestic care was huge. Relatives providing care and professional carers looking for help to overcome the daily challenges and demands of domestic care followed the discussion on Living with care @home with interest. Workshops and lectures addressed subjects such as “Dementia – the crazy routine”, “An unexpected need for care – now what?” and “Promoting and preserving mobility”. This year’s extended information and advanced training programme was also received very well: The lectures about

“Ambulatory Wound Care” at the start of the fair on Wednesday were specially directed at professional

carers with the opportunity to get ICW certification points for the seminar day.

The Stiftung Pflegender Angehöriger e.V. leant their support to disabled

people with advice and tips in the affiliated World Café.

Automobile manufacturers and retrofitters

Those who visited Hall 4 caught a glimpse of the mobile future, where car modifications enable people with limited mobility to live an independent life. A world première attracted a lot of attention: Paravan’s first disability vehicle, able to autonomously park into and reverse out of a garage with a fully electronic steering and driving system, was presented at REHACARE. A coach and other elaborate car models with voice commands, deep-set floors, retractable under-floor ramps and many more assistive devices also garnered just as much interest.

Forums, theme parks and much more

Leben mit Pflege

Living with care

@home

Sport at REHACARE

That moving keeps healthy and can even heal, is a known fact. That it can also be a lot of fun, was proven in the REHACARE Sports Center in Hall 7a.The Behinderten- und Rehabilitationssportverband Nordrhein-Westfalen (BRSNW) presented sports which allow seniors and people with disabilities to be physically active, including dancing, abseiling in a wheelchair, boccia, archery, table tennis and much more. Visitors were also able to test out a “G-Weg” at the fair: A six-metre long, skid-proof and wear-resistant carpet designed for rehabilitative gait training and fall prevention was on hand for everybody to “walk on”.

However, also in Hall 3 there was a lot of sport going on. The focus here was on a skate park, and the athlete David Lebuser showed acrobatics in a wheelchair. The young man is Germany’s first professional chair-skater and gave a taste of his

skills on stage.

The young and the old were all drawn to a skate park to marvel at the professional chair-skater. The young athlete and other wheelchair skaters attended every day of the fair to show visitors how to zoom down

the ramp in a wheelchair and do a somersault using one hand.

Forums, theme parks and much more

Sport-Center

Sports Center

Politicians visit REHACARE 2015

The many politicians who attended REHACARE were not just there to make an appearance; they also used the opportunity to take a look around. Ministers and commissioners alike took part in the four days of discussions, conferences, lectures and even a live cooking show. Barbara Steffens, Minister for Health, Emancipation, Care and Ageing of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), her colleague, Rainer Schmeltzer, Minister for Work, Integration and Social Affairs, and Elisabeth Veldhues, Commissioner of the Federal State Government for the Affairs of People with Disabilities, took to the various stages to give their opinion on topical issues and answered people’s questions.

Verena Bentele, Commissioner of the Federal Government for the Affairs of People with Disabilities, and Thomas Kutschaty, Minister for Justice in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, took part in the cooking show with Volker Westermann. The TV chef and presenter spoke about inclusion and integration with the two politicians while casually chopping away.

Forums, theme parks and much more

High-tech at REHCARE

The range of innovative assistive devices at REHACARE is enormous year after year. The exoskeleton – a type of orthotic worn on the body – aroused a huge amount of interest. Motors and avionics enable paraplegics to walk upright again on their own two legs. Another highlight was illustrated by an electronic and flexibly manoeuvrable Zimmer frame which helps people cope with inclines and contains an integrated sensor in the handles preventing hands from being strained with too much pressure. And last but not least, the wheelchair based on a Segway piqued a lot of visitors’ interest – it

promises unlimited driving pleasure thanks to two autonomously controlled electric motors which can manage all kinds of terrain, be it a sandy beach, cobblestones, a forest floor

or a meadow.

Forums, theme parks and much more

We are looking forward to REHACARE 2016

Next year, REHACARE 2016 awaits you from

28 September to 1 October. We are already looking

forward to welcoming you to Düsseldorf again next year.

Until that time, you can keep up-to-date – with us at

REHACARE.de website and our continually growing

community on facebook.com/REHACARE

Simple and comfortable online registrationIf you would like to exhibit your company and your products

at REHACARE 2016, please register at

www.rehacare.de/2330 by 30 April 2016

You can find even more impressions with numerous pictures and videos at: www.rehacare.de/live2015

Self-determined living

Trade Fair and Congresswww.rehacare.com

Messe Düsseldorf GmbH

Postfach 101006 _ 40001 Düsseldorf _ Germany

Tel. +49(0)211/45 60-01 _ Fax +49(0)211/45 60-6 68

www.messe-duesseldorf.de

Düsseldorf, Germany 28 September – 1 October 2016

See you.. .