Sunrise Medical explores the depths of power wheelchair seating with Unicare's allied health partners
Workshop: Prescribing Power Seat Functions for Power Wheelchairs
- Options and Considerations
The Camfield, Burswood
Wednesday, 3 August 2022
Driven by the growing demand for power wheelchairs, this workshop was designed to provide Unicare Health’s allied health partners with a comprehensive understanding of power seat functions, their appropriate use, and clinical advantages.
We enjoyed an insightful day reviewing traditional power seat functions and learning about the latest and greatest with Sunrise Medical’s Clinical Educator and Trainer, Prithy Sivaraman.
Prithy Sivaraman is a Physiotherapist who has been working with both adults and children since 2007, prescribing complex seating and wheelchairs. Prithy worked in Perth before relocating to Adelaide 10 years ago to broaden her expertise working with paediatric clients and alternative access controls for powered mobility.
She currently works for Sunrise Medical as an educator and trainer, and works closely with the Unicare Health team, assisting with orders, account management and the scripting of complex manual, power seating and wheelchair systems.
What power functions are truly required to maximise mobility? What options should we really be considering?
Prithy’s presentation included:
- Evidence-based recommendations for skin and posture/comfort protection
- Power seating functions that are reasonable and necessary
- How we can influence usage to improve clinical outcomes
- What questions we should be asking in our assessment to guide our decision
- and more…
Prithy began her presentation by reviewing the power wheelchair assessment process and the fundamentals of seating. She stressed that the outcome of all assistive technology prescriptions lies in completing a thorough and in-depth assessment.
“The key to assessments is to enable users to be as independent as possible.”
Successful wheelchair prescriptions are done by asking all the questions in the initial assessments and allowing the client and family to guide the conversations. It includes goal setting as well as prioritising and revisiting goals.
Using the Quickie Q700, Q500, and Q400, power wheelchairs from Sunrise Medical, Prithy pointed out and distinguished the systems that make up a power wheelchair and detailed
- primary (base, motors and batteries)
- secondary (powered seat functions and positioning equipment)
- additional components (electronics, accessories and driving control)
She reviewed and compared the clinical features of these components in detail and talked about why and when she would choose to include one over another.
She discussed how to use:
- power elevate & lift to improve communication and eye contact
- power tilt to achieve better repositioning and pressure care
- power anterior tilt to assist with standing transfers
- and more
Attendees were given the opportunity to navigate Quickie power chairs and experience how different seating systems, drive bases and power seat functions to work together to provide the optimal mobility solution for a client.
“A client’s perception of each function may not be the same as you. Demonstrating how to safely use basic functions prior to prescribing additional seat functions is always good practice.”
Prithy also introduced the latest and greatest joystick controls, hand mounts, dual pro head arrays etc. and discussed clinical considerations.
For instance:
- The Quickie Q-Series wheelchairs come with the reliable VR2 control or the superior R-Net advanced joystick for controls and connectivity. The VR2 and R-Net advanced joysticks is a large, easy-to-read HD displays and they have simple-to-control paddle switches that allow for intuitive operation.
- The Quickie Q-series also come with alternative controls such as the switch-it innovative controls that allow users to access their 5 programmable positions with a single button. It allows the user to go straight to the function they need at the touch of a button.
Prithy emphasised the importance of making access to controls easy for users and keeping things as simple as possible. She also stressed the importance of basic trials and revisiting a client to access whether their prescribed chair is meeting their goals.
Thank you
Unicare Health would like to thank Prithy Sivaraman and our friends from the Sunrise Medical clinical education team for working in partnership with us to facilitate this valuable session for our allied health partners, particularly those who are newer to the power wheelchair assessment and prescription process.
We would also like to thank everyone for spending their morning with us and trust that you left with a good practical understanding of Sunrise Medical‘s power wheelchair range, as well as the confidence to assess and prescribe power seat functions to promote greater user independence.
“At Unicare Health, we unicare about helping clinicians become more intelligent assistive technology (AT) prescribers. Being able to prescribe the right power wheelchair and seat functions can significantly impact someone’s independence and improve his/her quality of life. We are thankful for your partnership and the ongoing work that you do with us to improve client outcomes.” #morethancare
As industry leaders, we’re proud to take the first steps toward more effective industry collaboration opportunities. Innovations in AT are constantly empowering individuals to overcome their physical barriers, enabling them to experience improved quality of life. We believe that by working together and learning about the clinical benefits of new innovations, we can have a greater impact on how AT is prescribed and applied to achieve even better functional outcomes.
