Page 18 - Mobility Management, August 2017

ATP Series
Form, Functionality &
the Future of Wheelchair Backs
By Laurie Watanabe
t has a deceptively simple name, and in some situations, perhaps there is little expected of a wheelchair backrest. Certainly, expectations on the durable medical equipment side of the industry can be quite basic.
But it’s a different story in complex rehab technology (CRT), where full-time wheel- chair use puts more emphasis on maximum functionality out of every component.
We asked a range of CRT professionals about backrests from their perspectives: • Scott Brown, national sales manager, Stealth Products
• Suzanne Eason, OT/L
• Cindi Petito, OTR/L, ATP, CAPS, owner, CHAS Group
• Jeff Rogers, senior JAY seating product manager, Sunrise Medical
In addition, we asked engineer/wheelchair user Todd Hargroder, Accessible Designs Inc., for his input (see sidebar).
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