Supporting Complex Seating Needs: Introducing the Tri-Chair 7
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Finding the right seating solution for someone with complex needs is rarely straightforward. Postural support, pressure management, comfort, independence and ease of care all have to work together, and those needs often change over time.
The Tri-Chair 7 is the latest development in Channel Healthcare’s Tri-Chair range, building on the principles behind the Tri-Chair 3 and shaped by real-world experience supporting people with progressive and complex conditions. Designed as a highly adaptable specialist chair, it has been created to support both users and carers in domestic and care settings.
Who is the Tri-Chair 7 Designed For?
The Tri-Chair 7 is intended for people who require a higher level of postural support and advanced pressure care management, including semi-ambulant and non-ambulant users. It is suitable for people living with a wide range of conditions, including:
- Motor Neurone Disease (MND)
- Stroke and acquired brain injury
- Complex postural needs
- Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
- Spinal cord injury or paraplegia
- Bariatric needs
As with all specialist seating, the diagnosis alone does not dictate what is required. This must also be shaped by the way each individual sits, moves, communicates and interacts with their environment.
Designed to Adapt as Needs Change
One of the key challenges in complex seating is ensuring that a chair remains supportive as a person’s condition evolves. The Tri-Chair 7 has been engineered with adaptability at its core.
Features such as adjustable seat width and depth and a lateral back cushion allow the chair to be tailored to individual requirements. This flexibility supports a stable midline sitting position, which can be critical for activities such as eating, communication and social interaction, as well as overall comfort.
By allowing adjustments to be made over time, the chair helps reduce the need for frequent replacements, supporting continuity and familiarity for the user while also keeping costs down.
Comfort, Positioning and Pressure Care
Maintaining comfort over long periods of sitting requires more than soft cushioning alone. Effective specialist seating must balance support and pressure distribution while promoting healthy posture.
The Tri-Chair 7 has been developed to support complex sitting postures, helping to manage pressure risks while providing the structure needed for users who may have limited muscle control or asymmetrical postures. This is particularly important for people living with progressive neurological conditions, where seating plays a key role in day-to-day quality of life.
Supporting Carers and Care Environments
Specialist seating must also work for the people providing care. The Tri-Chair 7 includes battery-powered tilt-in-space functionality, available with dual or triple motor options, allowing repositioning with minimal physical effort.
Compatibility with Sara-Steady transfer aids supports safer, more dignified transfers and helps meet the practical demands of modern care environments, whether in the home or in professional settings.
Enhanced manoeuvrability means the chair can be positioned easily, supporting both care routines and everyday living.
Inspired by Lived Experience
The development of the Tri-Chair 7 was influenced by Channel Healthcare’s work with the late Rugby League legend Rob Burrow CBE, who lived with Motor Neurone Disease. In 2023, Channel Healthcare designed a bespoke Tri-Chair 3 to support Rob as his condition progressed.
A key part of Rob’s brief was that his seating should support independence - enabling him to eat and communicate comfortably - without making his home feel like a clinical environment. That philosophy continues to shape the Tri-Chair range today, resulting in seating that meets complex clinical needs while still fitting naturally into everyday life.
The name Tri-Chair 7 reflects this legacy, taking inspiration from Rob’s shirt number during his career with Leeds Rhinos.
A Personalised Approach to Specialist Seating
No two users are the same, and effective specialist seating is never a one-size-fits-all solution. The Tri-Chair 7 sits within a wider approach that prioritises assessment, collaboration and ongoing support, working closely with users, families and professionals such as occupational therapists to find the right solution for each individual.
As needs change, the ability to adapt seating can make a meaningful difference to comfort, independence and quality of life for users and those who care for them.
A Focus on Independence, Dignity and Everyday Life
At the heart of Channel Healthcare’s approach to specialist seating is a belief that the right chair should do more than meet clinical requirements - it should support how someone lives day to day.
Shaun McCluskey, Managing Director at Channel Healthcare, said: “When we’re designing or recommending specialist seating, we always start with the person, not the product. Everyone’s needs, routines and priorities are different, particularly when they’re living with a complex or progressive condition.
“Our work on the Tri-Chair range has reinforced how important it is to balance postural support and pressure care with comfort, independence and dignity. Seating should help people eat, communicate and spend time with others comfortably, without making their home feel like a clinical space.
“That principle has been central to the development of the Tri-Chair 7.”
Find out more on our Tri-Chair 7 page.
