Staircase aid for better and more efficient rehabilitation [Report]

Jakob Rønningen had no objections when the stair lift in the nursing home was ready for use. “The device looks good and is robust. I felt safe,” he said after going up and down the stairs once.

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Holmestrand (small coastal town south of Oslo)

This clever device for safe walking on stairs was purchased here to enable faster and more efficient rehabilitation for the patients. The rehab center is well equipped with elevators, but this stair aid contributes to movement and also helps more people to return home earlier from rehab.
Jakob Rønningen

student idea

The inventors of the stair aid TOPRO Step are Halvor Wold, Ingrid Lonar, and Eirik Medbø. They came up with the idea for the stair aid TOPRO Step while they were students at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

“We started in 2012 with a few simple sketches. We found that the existing solution was that people no longer walked on stairs, and that was not a good solution. And we know that climbing stairs is good exercise. We imagined how to walk on stairs, and after many tests, errors, and progress, we came to this prototype,” says Ingrid Lonar.

“Simple, mechanical, and you have to climb stairs yourself. Everything at your own pace. When you move the handle, you can feel it click into place and then you can pull your legs up. A solution that was even praised by the fire department. The stair lift can even be used in case of a power outage,” she explained.

First installation in Holmestrand

“This is the first installation in Holmestrand, there is one in the healthcare facility in Re and one in Sandefjord. In the meantime, around 200 have been sold throughout the country. Approximately 100 of them are for home use,” she added.

Together with Øyvind Andreassen from Hepro AS, she showed the residents of the nursing home and others in the community of Holmestrand the stair aid. Everyone was impressed by the easy operation and the small space requirement compared to a stair lift – the TOPRO Step stair aid stands only 18 cm away from the wall when the handle is folded in.

A stair lift takes up the entire width of the stairs and is also in a completely different price range.

“That is great for rehabilitation, where stair training is very important for those who want to live at home,” says Solfrid Nilsen, head of the project “Welfare Technology” in the municipality of Holmstrand.

TOPRO Step Team

The three engineers from Trondheim received applause for their student project, which turned into a company.

The TOPRO Step stair aid was developed at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in collaboration with the Norwegian Parkinson Association.

“Our goal with the TOPRO Step stair aid was to enable more people to lead an active life, independent of the help of others,” says CTO Ingrid Lonar, adding that many people are unfortunately forced to move away from home when the stairs become insurmountable.”

Facts about stairs

  • Every year around 50 people die from falling down stairs in Norway alone (Source: Statistics Norway)
  • 30,000 Norwegians need medical help after falling down stairs (Source: Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research)
  • 25% of people over 65 feel insecure when climbing stairs.
  • Older people who are able to climb stairs have a significantly lower risk of falling in their daily lives.

Watch our information video.

TOPRO Step Informationsvideo

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