Size Matters Proper Design of Pediatric Manual Wheelchairs

Program ID :IC46.2019
Webinar Length of Time: 1.0 Hour

Link to view the lecture presentation:

Resources:

None

Presenters

Lauren Rosen, PT, MPT, MSMS, ATP/SMS
St. Joseph's Children's Hospital of Tampa, United States

Lauren Rosen, PT, MPT, MSMS, ATP/SMS is a Physical Therapist at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Tampa, Florida. She is the program coordinator for the Motion Analysis Center, a three-dimensional motion analysis lab where she runs a pediatric and adult seating and positioning clinic. She has been active in DME prescription for over 20 years. She is a past member of the Board of Directors of RESNA.

Presented at the 35th International Seating Symposium, Pittsburgh, PA USA

Note: Faculty for this activity have been required to disclose all relationships with any proprietary entity producing health care goods or services, with the exemption of nonprofit or government organizations and non-healthcare related companies.

No conflicts have been disclosed.

Description

Children with disabilities have always needed wheelchairs. Originally, they had to use adult wheelchairs and were pushed by others. The first reference to a pediatric wheelchair was in the 80s. These were mostly just smaller versions of the adult standard wheelchairs that were used at that time. With better materials and more knowledge about propulsion, the pediatric wheelchair has evolved. Unfortunately, many therapists and suppliers providing them have not. They continue to provide wheelchairs that are too large, too heavy, and with too much positioning equipment. As children needing wheelchairs grow while they have their wheelchairs, it is necessary to make the chairs accommodate for this. Frequently, the estimated growth, especially the seat width, is too much. Children with disabilities generally do not grow as fast as their age matched peers. They tend to be 5%-10% shorter than their peers from age 2-8 years and the difference increases by the year of age. Children with disabilities also grow more in length than they do in width. Considering the knowledge of this, care needs to be taken in selecting the proper seat width. Many therapist order chairs that are 3-5 inches wider than the child’s current hip width to anticipate growth that does not occur. Additionally, because they are reaching so far out to their wheels, it makes propulsion more difficult, which limits their function and independence.

Learning Objectives

Upon viewing this webinar, participants will be able to:

List two common growth patterns in children with disabilities
Describe the three measurements that are most important in designing manual wheelchairs for children
Identify three areas of development that are affected by independent mobility in children

References

Digiovine, C., Rosen, L., Berner, T., Betz, K., Roesler, T., & Schmeler, M. (2012). RESNA Position on the Application of Ultralight Wheelchairs. Approved March 27, 2012.
Lobo, M. A., Kokkoni, E., Campos, A. C., & Galloway, J. C. (2014). Not just playing around: Infants’ behaviors with objects reflect ability, constraints, and object properties. Infant Behavior and Development, 37(3), 334-351. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2014.05.003
Logan, S. W., Ross, S. M., Schreiber, M. A., Feldner, H. A., Lobo, M. A., Catena, M. A., . . . Galloway, J. C. (2016). Why We Move: Social Mobility Behaviors of Non-Disabled and Disabled Children across Childcare Contexts. Frontiers in Public Health, 4. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2016.00204

CEU Registration and Cost

0.100 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) will be awarded to individuals for viewing 1.0 hours of instruction.
The cost for the webinar is $59.00

Instructions to Obtain CEUs

go to the RSTCE web site at: www.rstce.org

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IC46.2019 Size Matters Proper Design of Pediatric Manual Wheelchairs
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You will receive your CEU Certificate via e-mailed as a PDF file (Please allow 10 minutes for the database to process your certificate and send it to your e-mail)

The University of Pittsburgh, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences awards Continuing Education Units to individuals who enroll in certain educational activities. The CEU is designated to give recognition to individuals who continue their education in order to keep up-to-date in their profession. (One CEU is equivalent to 10 hours of participation in an organized continuing education activity). Each person should claim only those hours of credit that he or she actually spent in the educational activity.
The University of Pittsburgh is certifying the educational contact hours of this program and by doing so is in no way endorsing any specific content, company, or product. The information presented in this program may represent only a sample of appropriate interventions.

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Updated | 06.27.2019