Seminar: Effective Seating Solutions for Aged Care
– Residential and Community
Technology Park Function Centre, Bentley
Thursday, 20 May 2021
It was full house at our aged care seating seminar again!
We were delighted to be joined by occupational therapists, physiotherapists & nursing staff from major aged care organizations, as well as various community aged care groups in Perth.
It was clear from the turnout and volume of conversation in the room that the quest for better aged care seating methods is something that touches and engages all who are challenged with delivering quality aged care in Australia.
This is the fourth time we have held this popular session, which focuses on seating prescriptions for aged individuals and the development of effective seating systems to maintain comfort, pressure injury prevention, posture management and function.
Good seating and postural care can make a significant difference to someone who is elderly and has difficulty with independent mobility. The key principles of correct seating and positioning can influence the health and overall wellbeing of an elderly person.
Bounding on stage with admirable energy, this seminar was delivered by Unicare Health’s clinical educator and trainer, Annette Terranova.
Annette is an occupational therapist with over 30 years of experience as a clinician and consultant within the aged care sector. She is highly sought after go-to person by therapists working in hospitals, aged care and disability for expert equipment advice and equipment solutions.
Annette started her session relating to seating challenges for the aged.
She talked about equipment challenges, environmental challenges, social challenges and described the seating challenge as “Seating for task performance is not a single position, but rather an active repertoire of seated postures that the body requires in order for the mind to think, the eyes to read, and the arms to work.”
She then went through the principles of positioning and seating intervention as related to the aged and talked about achieving the “Ideal” seating system for the aged.
Annette used the Seating Scripting Flowchart as a tool to remind therapists what to look for when seating a client. She discussed medical considerations, access considerations, activity considerations, psychosocial considerations, attendant considerations and more.
She also talked about client measurements and demonstrated how to take accurate client measurements for various seating systems.
Everyone tuned into Annette’s discussion about seating and positioning in a Regency Chair – one of the most common pieces of seating equipment found in residential aged care.
Annette pointed out the differences between the regency chair, which has a gel seat base, and the common princess chair, which uses an air bladder that must be checked and inflated on a regular basis.
Using Unicare’s range of wheelchairs, Annette compared the differences between standard wheelchairs and custom scripted wheelchairs and what can be achieved with different chairs to suit different client needs.
She used the principles of good positioning and seating intervention to compare different seating systems and taught therapists how to use the tilt function on wheelchairs and regency chairs to keep the pelvis stable and prevent shearing.
Participants in the room enjoyed a visual demonstration of different wheelchair features and learned how they relate to different client needs.
Annette also reviewed powered seating options for aged care and introduced some different options for community aged care.
The seminar finished with some brilliant questions and discussions from the audience covering seating issues such as pressure care, mobility, transport approved seating options and client measurements.
Everyone who came had a enjoyable time trying out aged care seating equipment and learning about the clinical features of various seating systems.
Thank you
To all who attended this seating seminar, thank you for your awesome feedback and for spending your day with us. An effective seating system can make a tremendous impact to the quality of someone’s life. We trust that our education sessions will impact the way you continue to prescribe equipment solutions to achieve better seating outcomes.
We are glad to be leading the way with seating education and appreciate your continued support and partnership that has made this another winning Unicare training event.
Missed this session?
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Posted on 1 June 2021