So, What’s a Seating Assessment?

It’s All in The Hips

At its core, a seating assessment is a specific set of manual tests that aim to understand your body, it’s needs, and its natural posture when in a seated position. This is typically completed by an Occupational Therapist or Physiotherapist via the completion of a Mechanical Assessment Tool (MAT Ax). A review is completed of the skeletal and muscular presentation to understand how these may influence seating outcomes. For some, this can be straightforward, whereas for others this is immensely important to ensuring that your wheelchair fits you, not you ‘fitting’ into your wheelchair.

This assessment provides the basis of the overall wheelchair prescription, and helps answer questions that may not have previously been considered. There’s the regularly considered things like depth and width, but what about spinal curve or if the pelvis is misaligned? Is the correct cushion in place? This also extends to understanding any further products to attach to the chair such as supports for thighs, arms, torso and head.

The key to a good seating posture lies in the pelvis (hips), as if this is misaligned the effect is twofold. Firstly, the spine traveling upwards is impacted which can result in an exaggerated ‘S’ bend left to right (scoliosis) or front to back (kyphosis). Secondly, the legs can be impacted by causing them to fall into an uncomfortable position, or by increasing pain due to transferring from the lower back.

A thorough seating assessment can also assist in minimizing the risk of pressure injury development. By positioning the pelvis correctly via a suitable cushion, the risk of pressure injuries decreases whilst also increasing comfort. Pressure injuries are best avoided as they can be exceedingly difficult to eliminate once they are in place, further cementing the need for a seating assessment.

If you use a wheelchair as your primary form of mobility and haven’t had a seating assessment, it’s likely you can be more comfortable, efficient in your movement, and generally have a better time in your chair. If you are needing a wheelchair for the first time, the time and effort of a seating assessment is certainly worthwhile.

It takes time, practice, and education to do these effectively. Chris is proud to have these skills, with ‘new wheelchair day’ being the highlight of the working week. If you are needing a seating assessment to inform either a new prescription, or re-visit your existing chair, we are keen to partner with you. Please either make a referral or contact us to discuss further.