The "young old" are on the move.....!

Erlau has launched a new CARE furniture line with the "Charisma-Care": The first bench with a "senior certificate" of approval!

In Sprendlingen, a town in the German state of Hesse, we wanted to find out what would be setting the national trend in outdoor furniture for older people.

How suitable for their purposes are the benches and other places to sit in parks and other outdoor areas? How "sittable" and how restful and comfortable does a bench need to be in practice before it really satisfies the needs of elderly people?

Well away from all empty advertising claims, a representative number of older ladies and gentlemen, right in the target age range of 52-88 years, volunteered to take part in a "test sitting". The results will amaze anyone who has ever sought well-earned rest in the countryside, but has probably never really found it.

First of all there are the "failures to meet requirements", which can be quickly listed: Seats are too low for easy sitting down and standing up; their surfaces are too cold, stay wet too long, and are damp in bad weather; they are not very comfortable to sit on, and there is no additional support for the feet.

This all served to heighten the tension among Erlau's product designers when they presented their CARE line, which they had specially developed for older people, and even more so while they were waiting for the judgment on their first innovation, the "Charisma-Care" bench. Well! The premiere went as well as they could possibly have hoped for, as all the marks were in the top of the range.

The material, a combination of Pagwood and wire mesh with a heat-insulating coating, was voted "very good" by 48.6 % and "good" by 43.2 %.

The judgments varied when it came to comfort: Seat surfaces (44% good, 36% very good) seat height (44.6% very good, 38% good) and backrest (78% very good or good).

Best marks were given for that very important feature: "ease of sitting down and standing up". The foot rail was also found to be very helpful and comfortable, and met with the clearest approval as an aid to standing up.

A table listing the most important features required makes clear how thoroughly the manufacturer had done his homework, and how much attention had to be paid to detail in order to become a credible producer of products suitable for older people.

When Erlau's new Charisma-Care bench passed its baptism of fire with flying colours, this meant that Europe's leading outdoor furniture manufacturer had made a successful start to catering for the target group of elderly and disabled people, which demography shows to be ever growing. And last but not least, there's the realisation that sitting comfortably is not a question of age but of the competence of experienced manufacturers.