AMHERST — An Amherst inventor’s latest creation could mean more independence for senior citizens and others who use wheelchairs, while at the same time cutting down on medical bills and caregiver costs.

“This is a plush piece of furniture,” Marvin Glover says about his Realchair, a proof-of-concept prototype patented in May 2022 that he demonstrated during last week’s second annual Amherst Senior Center Health Fair at the Bangs Community Center.

Glover believes that what he has made, a therapeutic rehabilitation wheelchair, can take the place of what seven machines would otherwise do, including easing the user in and out of the wheelchair and providing an exercise component.

“I think it’s a revolutionary aid that will save billions of dollars in Medicare expenses,” Glover said. “If you can regain autonomy, you don’t need to go to the hospital to correct it. And this adds a good outlook on life.”

A retired medical technologist who came to town four years ago, Glover is known in some circles for his physics discovery of a new form of motion known as omnidirectional oscillation, which he is using as the basis of the company he founded, Glover Gear, LLC

To provide sufficient dedicated space to demonstrate Realchair, Glover set up in the Glass Room at the Bangs, downstairs from more than dozen other providers at the health fair tabling in the Large Activity Room, including Massachusetts Behavioral Health Help Line, University of Massachusetts Kinesiology, Christopher Heights and Hospice of the Fisher Home.

With stationary handles, the Realchair is more secure for the user, Glover said, and the diagonal arm rests allow for continued support during sitting and standing. A power vertical liftseat gets people out of the chair easily. Realchair is also beneficial to those who work with patients, he said.

“It’s the only wheelchair in the world that’s also a walker,” Glover said.

There is also a hammock to sit in and a full body extension mode, with variable resistant exercisers that can prevent gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, a medical problem that can afflict wheelchair users.

If the invention can be mass produced, Linda Moffa, Glover’s life partner, said that it will be cost effective because all power functions are controlled by the seated Realchair user, utilizing elastic bands powered by the user’s own weight and gravity, rather than motors or electronics.

Moffa said the health fair was a wonderful opportunity to exhibit. “We’re hoping we’ll get feedback from users and caregivers,” Moffa said.

Some of the feedback was positive, with comments from one experienced in a nursing home setting who said it could reduce time spent with patients and potential injuries from lifting them from their wheelchairs into a bed.

This feedback was important, Glover said, so he can improve his invention.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m on a mission from God,” Glover said.

Health fair mission

Meanwhile, the senior health fair was organized by Senior Center Director Hayley Bolton to coincide with Medicare open enrollment, an appropriate time because, she said, people are thinking about their health needs. It was also a way to get people back into the building. Those who attended could not only pick up information, but also what she called “official swag” emblazoned with the senior center’s new logo.

Those included miniature flashlights, whistles, pens and even Frisbees, all with the logo that Bolton designed, along with logo-free lollipops. The new logo has “Amherst Senior Services” at the center of a circle, with an oak leaf to the left and the phrase “serving and supporting” to the right.

That phrase fits in with its mission. “What we basically do is serve and support older adults in the community,” Bolton said.

There was also disaster preparedness information and the File of Life that, with a magnet on its reverse, can be placed on a refrigerator and contains information about medications and emergency contacts.

While the Amherst Senior Center has faced challenges specific to the pandemic, Bolton said others have existed for a while, such as limitations imposed by the layout of the building, a former school that also has other uses, including housing the Musante Health Center and the town’s Health, Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion departments, and the Civil War tablets display. There is also no dedicated parking lot, which the Senior Center addresses through the sale of yearly parking passes.

Bolton is currently working with Building Commissioner Rob Morra on use of American Rescue Plan Act money that will include improvements to the kitchen and exercise space, two of the essential areas in the building. “You’ve got to eat, and then you’ve got to work it off,” Bolton said.

Other areas of the building used by seniors will also get improvements, supplementing a previous renovation of the Large Activity Room, the senior lounge where people can drop by for conversation and company, as well as card games and puzzle making, and an outdoor patio.

“Once we renovate, this space will be more smartly designed,” Bolton said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.