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SETTING THE STANDARD FOR WHEELCHAIR CUSHIONS
http://www.helenhayeshospital.org/crtnews999.htm
 
Selecting a cushion is no trivial matter. A cushion is an important piece of equipment that affects a user’s health and function. Hundreds of cushions are currently on the market, and while having a wide selection is nice, having so many options complicates the ability to make the right choice.

Currently, objective comparison of cushions across manufacturers is difficult because everyone uses non-standard descriptions of products and performance. The Center for Rehabilitation Technology has received a grant from the Paralyzed Veterans Administration to begin developing standards for describing and testing wheelchair cushions. The project has a long-range goal of developing standards similar to the wheelchair standards currently in place. The immediate goal is to complete a survey of all wheelchair cushions available on the market today and create a chart that will list cushion characteristics, thereby allowing users and clinicians to compare cushions.

The first task was to identify standard terminology that should be used to describe cushion materials and construction. For instance, Sunrise’s “Jay2,” Invacare’s “Infinity” and Huntleigh’s “FloFit” are all described as “cushions with a contoured, non-deforming foam base topped with viscoelastic fluid pad.”

The second task was to design standardized methods to measure seven cushion characteristics: weight, width x length, thickness, thigh thickness, medial & lateral thigh support height, unloaded contour depth and loaded contour depth.

The third task, currently underway, involves obtaining the 400+ cushions available on the market today, measuring the seven characteristics, and compiling a chart for use by healthcare professionals and wheelchair users. This information will be published in Sports-n-Spokes or Paraplegia News later next year.

Future efforts will be targeted toward measuring the performance of cushions. A cushion’s capacity to distribute pressure, dissipate heat, and retard the growth of bacteria directly affects its ability to prevent pressure ulcers and other medical complications. Information on the cushion’s life expectancy and maintenance requirements will also be measured. Establishing standardized means to measure cushion characteristics and performance should have two benefits:
1. improved quality of wheelchair cushions, and
2. enhanced ability to match a wheelchair user’s needs to the appropriate cushion.
 
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