The 'Equip Myself' App

Have you ever been overwhelmed by the amount of equipment and assistive technology on the market for you or a loved one?  The Independent Living Centre in Western Australia has created a one stop app that has all the equipment and assistive technology you may need in your home. 

'Equip Myself' is an app that has been on the market since late last year to assist people living at home in the community. 

Imagine this, you step into your own virtual home and you can navigate through the home from the front door to the back and everywhere in between.  The app allows users the opportunity to browse through all of the equipment and technology you may need to stay at home for as long as possible. 

Equip Myself helps users explore equipment and assistive technologies in their environments in which they would be used or needed such as the kitchen, bathroom, garden or even what you might need to be out in the community.  

Say you have some difficulty recalling appointments or forget to take your medication - you can navigate your way to the kitchen and click on the clock and it is able to tell you what type of assistive technology you could use to prompt yourself to take medication or remind you of an upcoming appointment. 

Another example may be you have arthritis and have difficulty getting in and out of bed. You can navigate your way to the bedroom and find out what type of equipment or technology could assist you best.  Once you have identified what equipment you would like to trial or buy, you can save it in your favourite list.  This will then advise your support network or any health professionals you are working with who can assist you with arranging trials of the equipment. 

Equip Myself can be used as a planning tool to organise information about different devices as well as capturing photos, thoughts and ideas that you can share with your support network.  The app is only available on iPad’s and Android Tablets and is available for download from the app stores.  
Equip Myself has over 11,000 different options for you to navigate through which can be a little daunting, so should be used in conjunction with a health professional such an Occupational Therapist.