Wheelchair Accessible Vans: Perfect for Your Retirement Community’s Fall Trip

For senior citizen retirement communities, social outings and trips are a great way to help keep residents active. However, if you have residents who use wheelchairs, transporting them off campus can be tricky. Wheelchair vans can be expensive, and space is limited. What if more residents in wheelchairs want to attend than there are wheelchair-accessible seats in the vans?

Don’t let a lack of wheelchair accessible vans put a damper on your community’s upcoming fall trip. At Airport Van Rentals, we want to help you transport everyone where they need to go. If you’re wondering how your community could benefit from a wheelchair van rental in Los Angeles, consider these points.

A Group Travel Experience

Part of what makes your retirement community’s off-campus trips so great is that they offer residents the ability to socialize. Having a bunch of senior citizens traveling in the same vehicle harkens back to their younger days spent taking buses on school field trips. Residents can chat amongst themselves on the drive to the event, and the drive back can be spent reflecting on the day’s fun. However, residents who use wheelchairs often have to miss out on this camaraderie.

For residents that need a wheelchair, travel can be isolating, especially if they need to take a special car. Often, wheelchair-equipped vehicles have a limited amount of space that means only a few people can fit in the car. Airport Van Rental offers wheelchair van rental in Los Angeles for vans that accommodate up to six wheelchairs.

Now, your wheelchair-assisted residents can travel with several friends, just like the rest of the group. Considering the many benefits of socialization for senior citizens, you don’t want your residents to miss out on the fun of a shared road trip.

Remote Controlled and Easy to Use

Our wheelchair van rental in Los Angeles features the most convenient wheelchair ramp technology. With just one push of a button, three things happen: first, the van’s side door opens; second, as the door opens, the vehicle lowers toward the ground for easy entrance and exit; third, the folding wheelchair ramp will unfold itself from the inside of the van to the ground. There’s no need to fuss with extra buttons or remotes, making it easy for retirement community employees and members to use the van.

The van can be operated using a button inside the van door, as well. This makes it simple for wheelchair users to simply fold up the ramp and close the door themselves, once they are securely in the fan.

The Benefits of Travel for All Community Members

Several studies have found that socialization has important benefits for senior citizens. In fact, social isolation is one of the leading causes of depression in senior citizens. Through socialization, your residents can experience feelings of love and appreciation, which reduce their risk of developing depression. Spending time with friends also gives senior citizens a sense of purpose through meaningful connections.

Not only is socialization good for residents’ mental health, it’s also been shown to improve their physical health. Social engagement is associated with a significantly improved immune system, especially in older adults. Senior citizens who are socially isolated are also more likely to skip meals, so socialization can also help keep your residents well nutritionally.

As dementia becomes an increasing concern among older adults, socialization may help stave off brain decline. A growing body of evidence has found that people with active social lives are less likely to develop dementia than those who are more socially isolated. In addition, socialization has been linked to high performance on tests of memory and other cognitive skills.

With access to as many wheelchair vans as your community needs, you can ensure that all of the important benefits of socialization are extended to each and every member of the community.

A Cost-Saving Alternative to Owning a Van

Since residents stay on the retirement community campus most of the time, it may not make financial sense for your institution to purchase its own wheelchair vans. Even if your institution is considering purchasing a wheelchair van, you may not be able to afford the model that’s the most spacious or easy to use.

By taking advantage of our wheelchair van rental in Los Angeles, your retirement community can rent the most state-of-the-art wheelchair vans available. The price of renting a van is just a fraction of the cost of owning even a lower-quality wheelchair van, so you can save money and still get to drive the best wheelchair van available.

Even if your retirement community owns wheelchair-accessible vans, you may not have enough space for each wheelchair-assisted resident who wants to go on a trip. Instead of limiting the amount of wheelchair-assisted residents who can tavel, you can simply rent additional wheelchair vans to accommodate everyone.

No Limits to Where You Can Go

If your retirement community rents a wheelchair van, there is virtually no trip you can’t take, as long as the destination is handicap accessible. Without a wheelchair van, trips may have to be limited to closeby locales; otherwise, wheelchair-assisted residents may be unable to participate in outings. Having access to a wheelchair van rental in Los Angeles means that you can plan a trip anywhere you please.

Your retirement community wants to ensure that all residents enjoy their time, and that includes having access to all of the off-campus events. With access to rental wheelchair vans, all of your retirement community residents can reap the benefits of off-campus activities. At Airport Van Rentals, we make it easy for everyone to take the trip. Visit our website to rent a wheelchair van for your retirement community’s fall trip today.