Wheelchair special footrest modification

Physiotherapist working for South Glos community learning difficulties team, looking for a solution for a client whose feet do not rest on his current foot plate on his wheelchair. It is his own electric powered wheelchair with a single footplate. However, because of his deformities, the way he sits in his mould in his chair and the fact his legs are different lengths, his feet therefore do not rest on the footplate.

Separate foot plates cannot be fitted to the chair after contacting the wheelchair company-‘Elite’. Can REMAP be able to help in making some sort of adaptation/block onto his existing footplate to accommodate the difference in his feet position and so each foot could rest and therefore be supported

Assessment of the client found that his position in the chair meant that his left leg fell along the centreline of the chair with his right leg further to the right than would be expected. Additionally his legs failed to reach low enough for him to be able to use the foot plate.

A provisional experiment found that he was considerably more comfortable when the footplate support was displaced by transferring it to the right side of the support bracket.

A temporary footplate was fabricated for use whilst the changes were made to the original plate and support.

The changes made were:

· to move the plate mounting/pivot point from the centre to the left hand corner of the foot plate – cutting and welding by a local fabricator;

· to drill further holes in the support to enable further adjustment to become available;

· all metal affected repainted with black Hammerite paint;

· leg rests previously fitted to the chair were and remain redundant, and were removed on consultation with client and specialist.

The changes resulted in the footplate moving 3” right and up 2” which means that both feet are now supported by the footplate, and client indicated he is now comfortable.

No special instructions or instructions were considered necessary for this modification.

See attached photos.

 

 

Before

After