Seating & Mobility Clinic

Seating and Mobility

Functional mobility and access to one’s environment can be difficult for people who have physical disabilities. The Seating and Mobility Clinic at Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital can help by providing an assessment of a person’s posture, strength, range of motion, skin integrity and movement to determine the best type of equipment to meet an individual’s needs.

Staff and Facilities

Our patients benefit from the collective expertise of therapists and physicians at Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital of Maryland, Montgomery County’s only freestanding acute medical rehabilitation hospital. The Seating & Mobility Clinic is staffed by a physical therapist who is a certified Assistive Technology Practitioner (ATP) by the Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA).

Benefits of Customized Seating

• Increased mobility and independence
• Improved balance
• Environmental access in the home and community
• Protection of skin integrity
• Improved head, trunk, arm control and function
• Improved heart and lung function
• Improved comfort
• Redistribution of pressure
• Enhanced safety

Seating & Mobility Clinic

Selection of an appropriate wheelchair and seating system is a very important process. Our certified therapist helps the client and/or the family select a chair that maximizes independence and efficiency of mobility in the home, community and workplace. Specialized evaluations are completed to determine the specific needs of each client. Demonstration equipment, simulation of the seating system and diagnostic tools, such as pressure mapping, are utilized to optimize comfort and function.

With so many products on the market to choose from, information on the latest technology can
be overwhelming. We can help people select the best products to meet every individual need. The therapist, with the physician’s and vendor’s input, writes a detailed evaluation and equipment recommendation to help ensure that the insurance provider is well informed and that the appropriate equipment will be covered.

Pressure Mapping
Pressure mapping is a useful, state-of-the-art computerized tool used to increase comfort and safety. The pressure placed on skin continually subjected to cushions, back rests or mattresses can cause sores that are difficult to heal. By evaluating pressure distribution, we can better match equipment that can help minimize discomfort and skin damage.

The seating and mobility clinic might be helpful if you have any of the following issues:

• History of skin breakdown and/or current skin breakdown
• Significant leg and/or arm weakness that makes walking difficult
• Balance issues that make walking unsafe
• Poorly fitting wheelchair
• Pain with use of your current wheelchair; pain that makes walking difficult
• Difficulty using current wheelchair in the home or community
• Poor endurance or fatigue
• Significant change in medical or physical condition that has made mobility more difficult

We can assist people who have difficulty with mobility as a result of a variety of diagnoses including, but not limited to:

• Acquired brain injury
• Stroke
• Spinal cord injury
• Arthritis
• Multiple sclerosis
• Spinal muscular atrophy
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Post polio syndrome
• Cerebral palsy

To Make an Appointment

• Request a referral from your physician for a Seating and Mobility Evaluation
• Call us at (240) 864-6200 to schedule your appointment