Permobil Launches Functional Guide on Power Standing
Permobil has introduced a functional guide that combines the clinical benefits of power wheelchair standing with real-life feedback from power standing clients.
The new Functional Guide to Power Standing Evidence, the manufacturer said in a May 8 bulletin, “offers a quick glance on the impact of standing on an individual’s life. Developed from the Permobil white paper ‘Summary of evidence on power standing wheelchairs,’ this guide highlights where the published literature overlaps with the lived experience of people using power standing wheelchairs.”
The free-to-download guide begins with higher-level (e.g., pressure redistribution, maintaining/improving range of motion) and lower-level (improving lower-extremity spasticity, bone health) evidence on standing’s impact, plus contraindications.
The guide then describes power standing’s effects on activities of daily living, with comments from power standing users. One example is from a consumer whose standing power chair arrived hours before the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020.
“My attendant immediately stopped working for me,” that wheelchair rider said. “So until July 2021, I was performing 99% of his duties myself. That literally would not have been possible without the standing function.”
ALS Awareness Month: Ice Bucket Challenge Turns 10
May is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) awareness month … and believe it or not, 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which — according to the ALS Association — “inspired over 17 million people around the world to dump ice water on their heads and donate to an ALS organization.
“The challenge raised awareness of the disease worldwide [and] raised $115 million” to support ALS research and people living with the disease, the organization added.
While the three men with ALS who were credited with creating the Ice Bucket Challenge — Pete Frates, Pat Quinn and Anthony Senercha — have since passed away, “We want to honor their legacy, recognize our ALS community for their ongoing support and generosity, and reinforce our commitment to making ALS a livable disease for everyone, everywhere, until we can cure it,” the ALS Association said.
Visit the association’s website to learn how you can participate in the Ice Bucket Challenge. The association says your bucket can be filled with ice, water, confetti, “or be creative!”
