Mobility aids go on sale in nation's supermarkets
By Tony Watts - Editor - 16/04/2009
Until now, living aids such as bath shelves, urine bottles and raised toilet seats have only been available on prescription via the NHS or Social Services, or through a disconnected network of independent stores, or from websites and specialist classified adverts. But from 18th April 2009, all that changes.
Supermarket giant ASDA is set to revolutionise the way living aids for older people are sold by stocking 15 of the Mobilease range of specialist products in more than 75 stores across the UK.
It’s been a long time coming - but an increase in demand due to an ageing population, as well as the widespread use of such products by people of all ages, has persuaded ASDA to take this pioneering step and make livings aids available to the mass market. The Mobilease range features a selection of the most useful products, including a collapsible wheel chair, a foldable walking stick, easy to use jar and tin openers, as well as the more personal bathroom assistance aids.
The move will massively shake up the multi-million pound a year mobility and living aids industry and go some way to finally breaking down the negative stigma and taboos that have traditionally hampered the selling of these items in mass-market outlets.
The ASDA move also comes at a time when there is a growing movement within the Government to encourage commercial retail to stem the escalating costs of providing living aids through the NHS and Social Services. Often the real price of items can escalate beyond all measure due to the assessment and prescription process. If the launch is as successful as market research predicts, ASDA will roll out more products across all of its 350 stores.
The man behind the Mobilease brand is Dermot McLaughlin, who has had a long career working with some of the biggest companies in the mobility industry, but has always been thwarted in his efforts to revolutionise what he saw as archaic marketing practices. “The mobility and living aids industry has been stuck in the dark ages for decades. The very products that are created to make life easier for people have been cursed by a very strange irony – they are difficult to access.
“It is not just the older generation who need assistance. Younger people with short-term disability concerns - like sports injuries - will benefit hugely from being able to buy our products easily from a retailer they know and trust.
“The most important thing is that having these aids available on supermarket shelves will gradually change people’s perception of disability and eradicate the unnecessary stigma that has surrounded mobility products. A urine bottle is not something to be embarrassed by – it is an essential item that can help someone enormously and improve their quality of life.
“There was a time when pregnancy test kits and condoms were sold under the counter. A similar attitude has applied to our business but all these barriers are about to be taken down. There is no need to regard this as a specialist industry any longer.
“Until a few years ago no one thought you should be able to buy televisions or mobile phones from supermarkets, but now this is accepted as normal. So why shouldn’t people buy living aids with their groceries?”