While the number of overweight and obese people in the United States continues to increase — in a 2024 article, the Lancet warned that 213 million adults and more than 43 million children and young adults ages 5 to 24 years are expected to be overweight or obese by 2050 — education on specific considerations…
For Good Measure: Educational Resources for Bariatric Seating and Mobility Success
Commentary: The Promise of Bariatric Seating and Wheeled Mobility
It’s about more than just steel frames and wider seats.
I’m thrilled that Mobility Management is now publishing quarterly newsletters to focus on specific topics within Complex Rehab Technology (CRT) — and we’re kicking off the series with bariatric mobility. Given all the different specialties within CRT, why bariatrics? One reason is the relative scarcity — it seems to me, anyway — of bariatric mobility…
Seat Elevation: Why a Heavy-Duty Code Matters
Understanding the physics of seat elevation and how it compares to other seating functions.
It’s all about access, engineering … and physics. The spring 2024 coding and funding decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for power seat elevation was a textbook case of good news and bad news. The good news: CMS, citing how seat elevation can support and facilitate transfers and reaching tasks, affirmed…
Seating the Bariatric Client: Q&A with Brad Peterson, Amylior
Center of gravity, stability, and wheelchair configuration are just a few of the considerations for this population.
Perhaps the most significant misconception that bariatric mobility clients — and their seating teams — must face is the misconception that higher body weights simply require wheelchairs with higher weight capacities and wider seats. A second misconception: Seating clients with body weights in the bariatric range are all similar to each other, and their weight…