The Impact of Specialist Seating on Quality of Life and Function
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Impact of Specialist Seating on a Person's Quality of Life and Functional Abilities
IRAS ID
180587
Contact name
Melanie Bryer
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sheffield Hallam University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 18 days
Research summary
People with long term physical conditions experience a variety of physical difficulties which can result in an individual spending a significant amount of time sitting, with a diminished ability to re-position themselves to maintain a good posture. For these people, the chair they sit in can have a large impact on their life. When sitting in an inappropriate position, an imbalance of weight distribution can lead to the development of pressure ulcers and other severe physical complications including muscle shortening, swallowing difficulties and pain. The sitting posture can impact on a person's quality of life as a result of these complications as well as impeding on function and communication. This means that an individual requires a chair that is tailor-made to meet their postural needs to reduce the likelihood of these complications developing, as well as increasing a person's activity related function, interaction with their environment and their overall well-being. Tilt-in-space mechanisms have been developed in seating to significantly offload pressure however reviews have deemed that there is a lack of evidence regarding its impact on other aspects of health, quality of life and functional abilities. The current study aims to address these issues utilising qualitative semi-structured interviews with a maximum of six participants who have long term physical conditions, and who have received a custom-made tilt-in space chair at least three months previously to meet their postural and health needs. The participants will be recruited from the case-loads of community Occupational Therapists working within a northern NHS Trust utilising purposive sampling methods and interviews will be conducted in participants' own homes. Data will be analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis as this has been identified as a suitable data analysis method for research exploring how individuals perceive their life experiences in terms of their health needs.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/YH/0290
Date of REC Opinion
21 Aug 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion