Michelle L. Lange, OTR/L, ABDA, ATP/SMS
The second annual meeting of the International Dynamic Seating Workgroup (IDSW) took place at the International Seating Symposium on March 22nd. We had about 10 people attend representing clinicians, researchers, and manufacturers who are all invested in furthering this innovative area of seating and wheeled mobility.
Last year, we officially formed an international committee of 28 members. During 2018, the group came to a consensus on a definition and scope of Dynamic Seating:
“In wheelchair and other therapeutic seating, dynamic refers to components which translate forces generated by the individual’s intentional or unintentional movements into motion of a component of the seating system and/or wheelchair frame. The intent of a dynamic component is typically to allow, rather than block, specific motions of the individual. Dynamic components absorb force, which in turn assists the individual back to a starting position.”
The International Dynamic Seating Workgroup met at the 35th International Seating Symposium in Pittsburgh.
One of the Workgroup’s initial goals was to develop and document clinical indicators. Seating Dynamics has already created two Clinical Indicators documents in conjunction with multiple authors that are available on our website (Clinical Indicators for Dynamic Wheelchair Seating: Clients with Increased Muscle Tone and Clinical Indicators for Dynamic Wheelchair Seating: Providing Movement). At this year’s meeting, the IDSW decided to move ahead in developing a RESNA Position Paper on the topic of Dynamic Seating. This position paper will include clinical guidelines, research findings, a literature review, and recommendations for further research.
Members of the Workgroup continue to work on the current Literature Review. We are pulling in research from related fields to support clinical indicators for Dynamic Seating, as direct research is often dated and limited. The Literature Review currently posted on the Seating Dynamics website under Resources will be updated periodically to reflect this work. You can find the most current version here.
I am privileged to be a part of such a passionate and skilled group and look forward to what we can accomplish this year!
** This post was originally published on https://www.seatingdynamics.com/2019/04/03/the-international-dynamic-seating-workgroup/
