Engage APOD Case Study
Briarwood Health Care Center, Denver, CO
Patient is an 81 year old male, with CHF, LE wounds, edema, cellulitis, severe kyphosis,
and increasing frequency of falls. He was treated by Matt Wittmann, DPT, Lisa Werner,
DPT, and Joanna Kochenower, OTD.
The patient was in a standard wheelchair with nursing and therapy both noting severe
positioning deficits, most significantly forward and L lateral leaning. At the onset of
treatment, he was described as “Leaning severely forward in the W/C, with his head
resting on a pillow placed between his knees, per his preference.” He had experienced a
gradual functional decline, and Physical Therapy had recently initiated treatment of LE
wounds with CPI (closed pulse irrigation). The patient had falls on 6/10/13, 7/13/13,
7/29/13, 7/30/13, 9/3/13, and 9/23/13.
The patient was placed on a low profile Engage APOD cushion on 9/15/13, and a Space
Saver Back Support was put in place on 9/16/13 from The PostureWorks. Physical
Therapy also swapped out his wheelchair for a lower profile one to allow his feet to still
make contact with the floor with the Engage APOD cushion in place. The patient’s
positioning, though still severely kyphotic, is more symmetrical and upright than before.
He spends almost 24/7 up in his wheelchair, declining to lay in bed at most times (this is
his baseline preference). He has had only 1 fall since the positioning interventions were
put in place – whereas, he was falling repeatedly beforehand. He expressed that he was
comfortable when the new cushion and back support were put in place. The patients LE
wounds, which were significant when Physical Therapy first intervened, were fully
healed by October 2013, and he was discharged onto a restorative program.
Altogether, in August the building had 26 falls, in Sept it decreased to 16, and by Oct and
Nov falls were averaging around 8-9. This decrease was in correlation with the 4 Engage
APOD cushions and the 4 Space Saver Backs purchased by the building, amongst several
other key factors.
Note: This is a representative example; actual user evaluations, and decisions regarding
the appropriateness of a particular product for a particular individual, should always be made by a
qualified healthcare professional.