Seating And Mobility CEU Courses for PTs

This course provides an overview of the unique considerations for seating and positioning in the home. Best practices and ethical dilemmas will be discussed with case examples. This course is directly related to the practice of physical therapy and is therefore appropriate for the PT/PTA.

Most manual wheelchairs are designed for self-propulsion and fall into categories. This course systematically explores each category with clinical indicators, as well as optimal frame configuration to increase propulsion efficiency and reduce the risk of repetitive stress injury.

Dependent mobility devices are not designed for self-propulsion. These include adaptive strollers, transport chairs, tilt-in space manual wheelchairs, reclining manual wheelchairs, and standard manual wheelchairs. For very small children, adaptive strollers are often required to meet positional and dependent mobility needs. Other dependent mobility bases, such as transport chairs and standard wheelchairs, are used for quick trips or for temporary use. Clients may also use a dependent mobility base as a backup to a power wheelchair. This course is directly related to the practice of physical therapy and is therefore appropriate for the PT/PTA.

Augmented mobility is used with clients who require assistance in ambulation. This category of equipment includes walking canes, crutches, walkers, and gait trainers. Augmented mobility is used to prevent falls, increase mobility, and provide strengthening and dynamic weight-bearing. This course will systematically present each of these options with clinical indicators. This course is directly related to the practice of physical therapy and is therefore appropriate for the PT/PTA.

Once the wheelchair seating assessment has been completed and seating interventions considered, it is time to match specific client needs to product interventions. This course presents various categories of seating systems. Seating systems, whether linear, contoured, or molded, are comprised of primary support surfaces, secondary support components, and materials. This course is directly related to the practice of physical therapy and is therefore appropriate for the PT/PTA.

Clients who use wheelchair seating and mobility equipment often have other durable medical equipment (DME) needs, as well. Durable medical equipment is often used to assist activities of daily living and so clinicians are active participants in selecting the appropriate equipment for a client’s needs. This course will address bath/shower equipment, toileting equipment, patient lifts, and adaptive car seats. This course is directly related to the practice of physical therapy and is therefore appropriate for the PT/PTA.

Power wheelchairs do far more than drive – the driving method can be used to navigate and control other features including Reverse, Speeds, Power Seating, or an Interfaced Assistive Technology device (i.e. a communication device). Power Wheelchairs can send Bluetooth signals to control devices such as tablets and smartphones. Finally, new SMART technologies are making power wheelchairs safer and more efficient for everyone. This course is directly related to the practice of physical therapy and is therefore appropriate for the PT/PTA.

This course will present common trunk asymmetries seen in wheelchair seating with suggested strategies to address each challenge. Providing as neutral a trunk position as possible improves overall posture, stability, and function. This course will then systematically address potential upper and lower extremity positioning challenges with suggested interventions. By specifically positioning the extremities, the seating system provides stability, function and even protection from injury. This course is directly related to the practice of physical therapy and is therefore appropriate for the PT/PTA.

This course will introduce seating/positioning needs common to the client with spinal cord injury, wheelchair selection related to client’s level of spinal cord injury, and training strategies to meet client’s independent mobility goals. Brief discussion of documentation requirements to obtain complex rehab technology for the client with spinal cord injury as well as outcome measures to assess effectiveness of training and intervention selection related to wheelchair training will be performed. This course is directly related to the practice of physical therapy and is therefore appropriate for the PT/PTA.

Power wheelchair evaluation determines appropriateness for power wheelchair use and then determines the optimal power wheelchair base, power seating, driving method and other needed components. Optimizing power wheelchair driving is critical to improve outcomes and includes choosing the best drive wheel configuration, utilizing tracking technologies, and programming.