Greetings!
Tilt wheelchairs offer an opportunity to safely involve individuals with limited mobility in their community.
The advantages include:
- Pressure redistribution for treatment or prevention of pressure ulcers
- Improved functional abilities with improved comfort and posture support for increased sitting tolerance and improved sight lines, especially for clients with kyphosis
- Reduced reliance on restraints for positioning*
Disadvantages can be:
- Cost, which can be higher than a manual wheelchair
- More difficult to self propel - either due to the position of the rear wheels, the heavier weight of the chair, or the tilt mechanism lifts the users feet from the floor
- Harder for caregivers to transport since most are heavier and non-folding
* Is a manual tilt wheelchair a restraint? In the assessments where we have been supplying a tilt wheelchair, it is a functional piece of equipment meeting clear, clinical objectives. It is often a vital component of a pressure management plan that offers improvements in quality of life.
Only have 5 minutes? Look at our 5 favourite tilt wheelchairs.
Have you RSVP'd yet for the Lifts & Slings Inservice in February? And hopefully your name is on the list for the March Wound Care Conference (it is sold out!).
We look forward to providing you with useful information throughout the year. Please contact us at any time if you have any comments, questions or topics you want covered by an inservice by emailing kim.mackie@selfcarehome.com. |