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Why is fitting necessary after a new wheelchair is delivered? - Elaine Rogers, PT

Why is fitting necessary after a new wheelchair is delivered?

Elaine Rogers, PT

Physical Therapist, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle

Read Bio More Videos by Elaine Rogers
Transcript
So when a wheelchair is prescribed or ordered for someone, the most important thing is to do a fitting with the patient-don’t just deliver it to their home and say, “Here it is, and off you go.”- we need to adjust the chair appropri... Show More

So when a wheelchair is prescribed or ordered for someone, the most important thing is to do a fitting with the patient-don’t just deliver it to their home and say, “Here it is, and off you go.”- we need to adjust the chair appropriately so it’s fitting your body correctly and make sure the L of your body is supported appropriately, that you have the best pushes. And then after we fit, we should be checking back in with you to make sure that we did a good job, or you should be communicating back to the person that the wheelchair came from and let them know whether it’s working or not. It’s also crucial to give feedback on the spot to the therapist if you’re not feeling comfortable in the wheelchair, you don’t think the fit is right, it’s too wide, it’s too narrow-give that feedback as soon as you can. And so again, it needs to be that conversation between the person who’s prescribing and fitting the wheelchair and the person who is receiving it. And it should hopefully be the same person, or someone who works very closely with the person who prescribed it, so they understand why and how it was prescribed and if something’s wrong, they can remediate it and address that issue.

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Why is fitting necessary after a new wheelchair is delivered?

Elaine Rogers, PT

Physical Therapist, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle

More Videos by Elaine Rogers
Transcriptadd

So when a wheelchair is prescribed or ordered for someone, the most important thing is to do a fitting with the patient-don’t just deliver it to their home and say, “Here it is, and off you go.”- we need to adjust the chair appropriately so it’s fitting your body correctly and make sure the L of your body is supported appropriately, that you have the best pushes. And then after we fit, we should be checking back in with you to make sure that we did a good job, or you should be communicating back to the person that the wheelchair came from and let them know whether it’s working or not. It’s also crucial to give feedback on the spot to the therapist if you’re not feeling comfortable in the wheelchair, you don’t think the fit is right, it’s too wide, it’s too narrow-give that feedback as soon as you can. And so again, it needs to be that conversation between the person who’s prescribing and fitting the wheelchair and the person who is receiving it. And it should hopefully be the same person, or someone who works very closely with the person who prescribed it, so they understand why and how it was prescribed and if something’s wrong, they can remediate it and address that issue.

Why is fitting necessary after a new wheelchair is delivered?
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