People With Cerebral Palsy

Best Practices For Wheelchair Safety And Selection
By John Morris

There are many things to consider before you purchase a wheelchair. Regardless of whether you want a manual or powered chair, consider the following:

1. Folding or rigid frames?

On manual chairs, folding frames are the usual conventional type having an X brace in the center allowing the frame to be folded sideways. Folding is simple, but a chair of this type tends to be bulky as well as quite heavy. New versions of lighter materials are now available, but regardless of this point because folding frames involve many parts, it is heavy compared to a rigid frame. Rigid frame joints are welded and a lightweight aluminum material is used, enabling one to transfer the wheelchair into the car without help.

2. It's all about comfort: get the footrest angled perfectly

An angle footrest is measured from the horizontal or is regarded from the side, whereas tapered footrests are regarded from the front, and joins both feet at the bottom, providing more clearance when turning. However, if you have limited hip and knee joint flexibility, this can be uncomfortable.

3. Don't overlook the handrim

Note that the overall diameter of a handrim will affect its propulsion. This means that having a large diameter climbs will be easier and with a diameter that is much smaller, it brings about a lot of speed on a flat surface.

4. It's all about the wheels

While spoked wheels are lighter, they require extra maintenance with continued use. Composite wheels on the other hand usually wear out at the bearing escalations. Then, the zero camber gives a slender wheelchair measurement. When the camber is increased, the measurement at the wheel’s botton is also increased and the measurement at the top is decreased, providing steadiness and turning can be done with ease.

5. Wheel locks