How to Choose the Right Chair For Your Client: An OT's Guide

Trusted support and bespoke solutions - this is important to all of us at Channel Healthcare. 

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We have extensive experience working alongside hundreds of Occupational Therapists (OTs), and we are a trusted partner for OTs across the UK. 

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Whether you’re supporting clients at home, in a care facility, or within a healthcare setting, both our riser recliner chairs and specialist chairs are tailored to the client’s environment, functional goals and long-term wellbeing. 

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We want to empower you to empower others. 

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Understand your client’s needs 

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At Channel Healthcare, we know you, as an Occupational Therapist,  want the best for the individual client you are supporting. So the first thing to consider is your client’s individual needs. We offer free seating assessments (which can be done in the home) and working alongside you as an OT, these assessments can help you find the right solution, looking at posture, mobility, comfort, and the functional needs of your client. 

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We can provide multiple assessments within a single visit, allowing you to compare riser recliner armchair solutions and speed up the process - getting your clients comfortable and into appropriate riser recliner chairs or specialist chairs even faster. 

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Match chair features with clinical and therapy goals 

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Whatever the clinical goals for your client, our expert team at Channel Healthcare will support you. 

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From our more standard riser recliner chairs combining posture support to enhance mobility and independence, to our most specialist riser recliner chairs for those who require enhanced postural support, pressure management or complex needs, whatever the goal for your client, the expert team at Channel Healthcare will support you. 

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As a qualified Occupational Therapist, we support you in considering the important factors - including pressure points. We help you take into consideration common high-pressure zone areas such as lower back, hips and thighs and buttocks. 

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Our riser recliner chairs are designed to distribute weight evenly, relieve stress on pressure points, and promote circulation. Adjustable features ensure your clients achieve the best seated posture for comfort and health. 

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Our seating solutions are carefully designed to support clients with conditions including dementia and cognitive decline, neurological conditions, orthopaedic challenges and post-surgical recovery, complex postural needs and spinal conditions, muscular dystrophy and progressive disorders, cerebral palsy and paediatric conditions, frailty, falls risk, and ageing-related mobility loss. 

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Carry out equipment measurements and posture assessment

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When it comes to prescribing and recommending specialist Occupational Therapy equipment, we understand how vital it is to get the right solution, not just for comfort, but for function, independence and dignity for your clients.

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At Channel Healthcare, we have a chair selector tool - making it easy for you to choose the riser recliner chair or specialist chair your client needs. This tool has been developed with Occupational Therapists to help you identify the best option - thinking about who the chair is for, the weight category needed and the primary symptoms of your client, thinking about any risk of falls, circulation issues etc. 

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And as you know, a crucial part of a good seating assessment is correct sizing. So we help you consider dimensions including seat height, width and depth, back and arm height and weight limit. 

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We also help you consider compatibility with hoists and transfer aids, accessories, tilt, recline and angled leg rests - all to provide the best riser recliner chair for your client. 

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Supporting the justification process for OT equipment 

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Thanks to our experience, our team understands how challenging the process of going to a panel to gain approval for the right equipment can be.  So we’re here to help. We offer pressure mapping technology,  bespoke riser recliner chairs, and clear detailed assessments and same day reports. We offer seating recommendations and we support wider care plans. 

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We will guide you, as the OT, through assessment to assess your client’s abilities, needs, environment, and daily activities, identification of need, clinical reasoning, goal alignment, consideration of alternatives, risk management, funding and policy compliance, review and follow-up. 

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Book onto our free training for Occupational Therapists 

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At Channel Healthcare we support Occupational Therapists the best we can - we pride ourselves on giving free training to OTs nationwide. Training focuses on pressure care, pressure mapping and posture management and we believe that sharing knowledge and expertise is fundamental to delivering the best possible outcomes for your clients.

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Interactive sessions help attendees build confidence in making clinical decisions about seating solutions that support comfort, independence and function. 

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And as a bonus, complementary lunch is provided!

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We’re here to support you and help your clients live more independently, comfortably and safely - get in touch today.