hubby is now badly leaning to the left and keeps slipping off the arm rest and then just hangs of his chair. OT said he needs yet another (we are on the second raise/recliner) different specialist chair and will look into it.
In the meantime any fixes you can think of to stop him slipping off his arm rest? Was considering a bedside rail that slips under the chair, but OT said that would not work and I am stubborn, so I measured and it would not be high enough even the tall version.
We had this problem and I remember that all the solutions I proposed were vetoed as unlawful restraint. I can't remember how we dealt with it but I do know that having an old fashioned winged armchair helped by stopping his head slipping off
My mum had the same problem, she was provided with a couple of recliners but then was measured up for one which offered more head support. It was very bulky and not particularly attractive but did help. The head support had quite large bits at the sides which could be adjusted to give more support and the arm rests were quite wide.
We could never find anything to support her neck though and she used to look so uncomfortable at times. I remember a lot of pillows and cushions were used to try and support her head as much as we could.
Hello my dad has a left lean and head stoop, and first used to sit on a normal twin sofa. We slipped half of a bed rail under the sofa cushion in the middle of sofa. And then stacked cushions inside that to prop him up, and he used to grab the rail to stand up. It worked temporarily, then we got a 'normal' electric riser recliner with arm rests. Once he was not walking/standing well, OT provided a specialist chair (I could find the name of it). In this area, they also have access to postural specialists above their grade. We now have use of a Kirtan Duo, and this is the highest level of support for him that they can find. It's not just about the lean,they also assess for pressure care needs in the seat etc. Some of the carers call this one the batmobile! It's black,shiny and quite big. Kx
oh my. I googled that kirtan duo. Not sure if hubby is mentally ready for such a chair, but would love to hear about the other specialist chair. Thank you. We live in a small cottage so a batmobile is a tad of a problem.
no worries, I imagine it will be a while before he requires that level of support. The in-between chair we had was a Florien. And a Freeway tilt-in space shower chair Kx
oh like the look of florien. Not quiet as bulky looking, but seems to have the support he needs and still able to lie back, which he does enjoy too. I will chase the OT I think.
and thank you!
Anytime!🙂
Hi
We have a riser recliner with wing sides to support the head as Sue is also leaning to the left.
OT supplied one but we have invested in our own as it looks more like a real chair!
Paul & Sue
massive choices. Will have to investigate. Thank you
Hi
Willowbrook send a good rep out who asks loads of questions about what you need and tailor the chair to you.... Not cheap but haggle on the price I got a reduction of 25%!!!
Paul
thank you. website states up to 50% deals available at the moment, so will go for it when it comes down to it.
It sounds like a seating assessment would be a good idea. Dad also started to lean to his right hand side. We used pillows, cushions etc. to try to help make him more comfortable. We were in the process of asking for a seating assessment but he sadly passed away before it could be done.
I did start doing some research and there is a company called "seating matters" who seemed to offer a good range of compact looking chairs and less clinical looking than some of them I had seen. I think they offer free assessments.
I hope you find something suitable.
Oh wow. Thank you. I will ask for a seating assesement today! Looked at the seating matters website and it looks interesting. Will do some research.
I used to work in this field and agree a seating assessment would definitely be helpful . Specialist Seating companies can do these but ideally a therapist who is trained in posture management may be more independent ( ie not tied to one company’s product(s) ) If you’re in the UK , The Oxford Centre for Enablement ( who ran a masters level course in posture mgt ) had an excellent department providing independent assessments as well as equipment (esp mobile special seating ).
Funding could be an issue if the patient was from outside the area but where they were receiving continuing care it was possible to get help from CCG / NHS ( esp where no adequate service was available to them locally) . There are other specialist seating services ( who assess & provide mobile specialist seating ) throughout the country which may be incorporated within a wheelchair service .
Also , Cuneiform ( Matchett ) is one of a few companies who I hope still make positioning units to help with posture management ( in lying and sitting ) and can also make bespoke units . ( Jan was very helpful ). Their website shows examples . Again , it may help though to be assessed by a suitably experienced therapist beforehand .
I hope this helps and would be grateful if you could let me / us know how you get on . it would also be v helpful to know if this info is still relevant.
Thank you
oh it is still very relevant! Thank you. Wiltshire Adult Social Care are hopefully soon arranging a seating assessment. Next Tuesday the Neuro physio and OT are visiting and I will discuss the Celia 2 from the Cuneiform website, as this looks really promising. Oxford is a fairly long way away at this moment. Hubby does not like to venture out much at all. We need to go to Bristol for the Communications assessment in the near future. I will update you on progress. Thank you
Helping my husband up from a fall
MSA affected by Covid
We are still clueless
help please - is this end stage MSA?
Breathing/sleep issues 
