Learning Objectives
- The participant will be able to describe clinical indicators for adaptive strollers.
- The participant will be able to describe clinical indicators for transport or standard manual wheelchairs.
- The participant will be able to describe clinical indicators for a manual tilt in space wheelchair.
Introduction
Why would someone need these particular devices? In the case of strollers, these are available in very small sizes to accommodate our very smallest clients. Some of our clients only need a mobility base for transport use only, such as getting from the car into the doctor’s office. Once in the doctor's office, the client may transfer to a waiting room chair and truly uses this device only for transportation. It might be the client only requires a manual wheelchair temporarily, such as when visiting Disneyland, and they are going to rent a dependent mobility base while there. It also might be that the client has an inability to self-propel a manual wheelchair and the dependent mobility base is a backup to a power chair. In this case, the power wheelchair is providing independent mobility while the dependent mobility base backs that up. The client’s power wheelchair may not be operational, the accessible vehicle used to transport that power wheelchair may not be working, or the destination that this client and caregiver are going to is not accessible. In these cases, the power chair may be left at home and the dependent mobility base is used. Some clients cannot use a power wheelchair and are unable to self-propel a manual chair, so they use simply a dependent mobility base.
One of our main goals in using some form of dependent mobility base includes dependent transport. It is important that we can get a client from one area to another, whether it is an area within the home, an area in the community, getting between appointments, etc.
A mobility base also always supports some type of seating system. It is important to choose a mobility base that can support the seating system that best meets the client’s needs. Part of the job of the seating system is to prevent any sort of pressure ulcer development and to provide adequate postural support for the client. This is part of the job of the seating system and as a result, the mobility base as well.
Finally, dependent mobility also can provide fatigue management for the client. This is particularly pertinent to tilt in space chairs by providing that tilt and change in position, and this can be accomplished sometimes with recline as well. We can help to compensate for someone's fatigue by providing more reclined or tilted position. That tilt or recline position also can help with postural management and pressure ulcer prevention, in addition to working with the wheelchair seating system.
