Over 50,000 visitors attended the REHACARE international trade fair for rehabilitation and care in Düsseldorf in September.
Innovations focusing on rehabilitation and care ensured that the halls were full to bursting for four straight days at REHACARE 2018. Around 50,600 service-users, their carers and relatives, as well as international industry experts gained new information on aids that help disabled and elderly people, as well as those with care needs, live a life that is as independent as possible from a recordbreaking 967 exhibitors from 42 countries. The trade fair obtained top visitor numbers too.
Global Portfolio Director for Health and Medical Technologies at Messe Düsseldorf, Horst Giesen, commented on the positive outcomes resulting from REHACARE 2018. “Ensuring that people with disabilities, care needs and the elderly are active and independent so that they can manage their day-to-day routines is one of the most important issues of our time. The way that the population demographic has developed, the concomitant issues that it brings with it for care and the growing number of people affected in terms of autonomy and participation in society are driving the market to create and offer increasingly high-performance aids for almost every disability and target group. Digitalisation, which supports the development of accessible products and thus enables inclusion on a wider scale, plays an important role in this,”
Advanced developments
Exhibitors from home and abroad showed a full quiver of innovations and advanced developments at REHACARE 2018. Many of these were highly personalised solutions from start-ups, with the impetus behind many of the concepts being to make life easier for their own carers.
Mobility was again a hot topic at this year’s REHACARE. The devices on offer ranged from intelligent walking aids to complex assistance systems such as computer-controlled braces, eye-controlled wheelchairs and exoskeletons. Almost one in two visitors wanted to gain information on innovations in this sector. This was also true of devices for daily use.
Exhibitors awarded top marks to REHACARE 2018. A representative poll showed that over 90% of exhibitors were satisfied with how the event had gone, and 83% said that the fair had already proved to be a business success as well. The survey also shows that 88% are expecting good follow-up business after the fair.
Head of Marketing at ReWalk Robotics, Sabine Tonye, finds that one of the primary advantages offered by REHACARE is that it is at once an information platform for service-users and international professionals as well. “This year, we showcased the Soft Exosuit for the first time, which is intended to be used in early rehabilitation for stroke patients who have foot drop. We were very pleased with the resonance that our presentation elicited and we were able to reinforce many existing relationships and also win new customers.”
Around 9,000 professional visitors in distribution, importing and purchasing travelled to REHACARE from over 80 countries and are especially vital to the export-oriented medical aid industry.
The next REHACARE will take place in Düsseldorf from 18 to 21 September 2019.
