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Table of Contents

1. Welcome
2. Lifetipping update
3. Views from the field
4. Research Article
5. Feature product
6. Dates for the calendar
7. Product News

Welcome

Welcome to the June edition of Vic briefCASE. You will notice to the left we have a newsletter signup form. Simply select 'VIC BriefCASE' and enter the details of your fellow staff members or associates to join our ever expanding list of subscribers!

 

FANTASTIC SEMINARS/WORKSHOPS COMING UP!

Our Powerchairs workshops was a success this month. We continue to provide you with up-to-date information with workshops in the coming months focusing on Pressure Ulcer Prevention and Pressure Mapping. Workshops happening in Brunswick and also regionally. Click here to register now or for further information. Hurry, numbers are limited.

 

 

Lifetipping update

Congratulations to Doully who won the latest week of Lifetipping, Lifehealthcare's footy tipping competition. It's not too late to enter (you will receive the average of the scores when you join anytime throughout the season). It is FREE to join and you could win a weekly prize of a $60 hamper and/or the overall prize of $1000.00 travel voucher.

 

Views from the field

We have recently been trialling the new Otto Bock B500 & B600 power chairs with good results, and thought we’d share the results of one of these trials with you. The chairs are quite similar in size and appearance, with the B600 offering a higher level of performance and options such as power seat raise. 

The client is a 12 year old girl who is a long term power chair user.  Her current chair is a rear wheel drive chair with power tilt and seat lift that is used at home and at school, and also a lot outdoors.  The spec for a new chair is one with good range and power for outdoor activities, good indoor manoeuvrability, low seat to floor height for school activities and also power tilt and seat lift (decorating the Christmas Tree was mentioned as a goal!).   

The B600 and a competitor chair were considered:  both rear wheel drive, with power tilt and seat lift available.  Both chairs have the same warranty period and are tested to Australian Stds.  Motor and general performance for both chairs was fairly similar with the exception of turning radius where the B600 was very close to that of a Mid-Wheel Drive due to its short wheel base.   The B600, at .8m in length, was also significantly shorter than the competitor at 1.2m, and less imposing in size for a 12 year old user.   The B600 is an extremely stable chair as the battery box is placed right underneath the seat evenly between the front casters and rear drive wheels for balance. The competitor chair has a battery box out behind out behind the rear wheels which, as well as requiring extra clearance in turning, tends to cause the chair to be less stable in higher degrees of tilt.  While both chairs offered a power seat raise, the B600 with a range of 400mm was a clear winner, with the competitor raise only 250mm.   

A home trial of the B600 really impressed our young user, who appreciated the speed, responsiveness and quietness of the unit in contrast to her current chair.  She commented that she found the display easy to view in outdoor light conditions, which was a problem with the current chair.  The B600 also offers the very useful option (unique in the Australian market) of a curb climb assist, which was put through its paces to good effect at trial, allowing the chair to go over drops that other chairs could not manage independently, with complete safety. At quote stage we went through the exercise of quoting both chairs, to get a feel for price variations.  The B600 was very competitive in price, coming in only slightly higher in cost than the competitor chair, and the price differential largely due to additional features of the B600.   Based on this and other similar experiences at recent trials, we are confident that the B500 and B600 will quickly find a place in the current power chair market. We are able to provide limited trials at present, please contact Daniel Newitt on 03 9384 7035 or dnewitt@lifehealthcare.com.au.

 

Research Article

A study that may be of interest to those who regularly prescribe cushions recently came across my desk, from the Journal of Clinical Biomechanics (2009). The study by Gil-Agudo, A., et al. is titled “Comparative study of pressure distribution at the user-cushion interface with different cushions in a population with spinal cord injury”. 

The study compared pressure maps (using the XSensor) of 48 SCI wheelchair users, on 4 different cushions: single chambered high and low profile air cushions, a shaped dual-chamber air cushion, and a fluid/foam combo cushion. 

The results show that the dual-chamber air cushion (ROHO Enhancer) provided the best performance with regards to pressure distribution and contact area.  What was somewhat surprising to me was how different the readings were on the dual-chambered Enhancer as compared to the single chambered high and low profile air cushions chosen (Askle Kineris), which does tend to reinforce what we know clinically, that multi-chamber cushions really perform better. The combo fluid/foam (J2) also performed very well, and better in many cases that the single-chamber air cushions, which also confirms what we know clinically - for active users a cushion needs have to be able to both immerse them well AND offer a degree of stability to be successful.

 

It should be also be noted that all the cushions tested obviously had quite significant effects in improving contact area, redistributing load and reducing peak pressures, so a low comparative rank should not be interpreted as “poor” cushion performance per se, but simply as a less favourable performance for this population. Also useful to note is the confidence of the authors in the ability of the XSensor to provide consistent comparative information within a testing session, and their evident opinion that the actual peak pressure readings should be viewed with caution, and likely to be quite variable between sessions and different equipment. 

The authors were cautious about over-interpreting the results, as we should all be, but the article provides a good discussion of the comparative benefits of the selected cushions and the discussion provides a good insight into how pressure mapping can be used as an adjunct to clinical trial in the cushion selection process.

 

Feature product

Introducing the Quickie Rhythm 

Dates for the calendar

JULY

Tuesday 7th Seating Clinic GEELONG
Wednesday 8th Seating Clinic ALBURY
Thursday 9th Seating Clinic BRUNSWICK
Thursday 30th Seating Clinic BENDIGO
Thursday 30th (AM) Pressure Care Training & Product In Service WAGGA WAGGA 
Thursday 30th (PM) Pressure Care Training & Product In Service WAGGA WAGGA  
Friday 31st Pressure Ulcer Prevention Workshop BRUNSWICK
Friday 31st (AM) Pressure Care Training & Product In Service ALBURY
Friday 31st (PM) Pressure Care Training & Product In Service ALBURY 

AUGUST

Tuesday 4th Pressure Ulcer Prevention Workshop BRUNSWICK
Tuesday 4th Seating Clinic GEELONG
Wednesday 12th Seating Clinic ALBURY
Thursday 13th Seating Clinic BRUNSWICK
Thursday 27th Seating Clinic BENDIGO

SEPTEMBER

Thursday 24th Pressure Mapping BRUNSWICK (more details to come)

Click here to register

For more infomation on any of our upcoming training sessions or workshops please contact Joelle Clamp jclamp@lifehealthcare.com.au.

 

Product News

JAY 3 CUSHIONS – have not seen yet but here they are on there way soon. Look out for the information in future issues.

There has been some question whether spare covers are available and cost-effective for the new Jay Lite cushion. I am happy to report that spare covers are indeed available, for a cost of only $95. Please ask for a spare cover to be included on your quote if this is of interest. Incontinence covers are not available. If continence is an issue for your client it is suggested that this cushion is not recommended. Perhaps try the JAY Triad or JAY Easy cushions as alternatives.