The demographics are good, innovative products are plentiful, and the market is touted as boosting a home medical equipment provider's bottom line. so why are aids to daily living the wallflower of the HME industry?

"We have had a hard time having [providers] take us on," says jan miller, vice president of channel development, standers inc., logan, utah, which makes a caddie to help people rise from a lying to an upright position. "we compare the situation to college students. they need experience to get the job, but they can't get the job until they get the experience."

In other words, persuading providers to take on new aids to daily living is tough. Providers, manufacturers say, are looking for the tried and true, while manufacturers are intent on developing innovative wares that respond to the needs of a growing-and very vocal-elderly population.

"I think that the aging baby boomers reflect a major percentage of the community," says Jaime-Lee O'Neill, public relations and advertising coordinator of DayLight Technologies, Halifax, Nova Scotia. "Because there is a large population of older people who want to live healthier lives, we can hear what their needs are."

That population-and those needs-will continue to grow, according to the Administration on Aging. The agency projects that by 2020, 15.2 million people 65 years and over will be living alone, and 19 percent of them will be limited in their ability to perform everyday activities. Therefore, manufacturers expect demand for items such as reachers, shower chairs and easy-to-grasp eating utensils to grow.

But while manufacturers are aware of the needs of their products' users, the users aren't always aware of the products. One reason for this, says David Carambula, president of Door Motion Technologies, Kalamazoo, Mich., is that many case managers spend more time focusing on the emotional needs of their patients and overlook the possibility of an improved lifestyle through new equipment. "They don't seem to recognize that there are products that are not so expensive, and they sometimes write them off," he says. "They don't realize the liberation that this piece of equipment can provide for the individual."

One way to educate end-users could be the Internet, says Becky Huelke, president of Clever Solutions, Ann Arbor, Mich. "It is tough to reach the people who use our products," she says. "We have had a good response to our Web site. A lot of people at home now have access to the Internet."

Huelke also depends on trade shows to get the word out about her company's products. Such events are good places to connect with not only the provider, but the end-user as well. And that's important to manufacturers. "We depend on our customers to tell us what they need," she says.

Following is a selection of aids to daily living products.