shutterstock_170076530_smSpring, a time of pure joy! Flowers spring into bloom, bird songs fill the air, and signs of life are everywhere.

This time of year, you can walk by just about any park and find children playing in the sand. If you stop to listen, you will hear the sounds of laughter and pure joy. Children love to dig a big hole and sit in it, which is very cute!

 

Conversely, you can walk down the hallway of most SNF facilities and find many residents sitting in a hole as well – otherwise known as hammocked sling seat wheelchair. This isn’t cute, it is painful.

If you stand and watch for a minute, you will hear the sound of discomfort and frustration. The sling seat wheelchair ends up hammocked typically within months of being purchased. This causes painful positioning for patients: IR and Add of the hips; sacral sitting and sliding; weight bearing through the sacrum; rounded shoulders and a forward head posture. These painful positions limit functional independence and quality of life.

Wheelchair seating interventions that improve positioning provide residents with many benefits:

  • Improved comfort
  • Improved function
  • Improved ability to engage in the environment and with others
  • Improved overall quality of life

Effective wheelchair seating & positioning also reduces risks:

  • Reduces risk of skin breakdown
  • Reduces risk of aspiration
  • Reduces risk of falls

If you would like to address the positioning challenges of hammocked wheelchair seats, contact The PostureWorks today to discuss options to support your team and your residents.

ImproveLives@ThePostureWorks.com

tel:  866.860.5200

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Wheelchair Seating Case Study: Positioning post CVA