Postural Care | Cambs OT

What is Postural Care?

Postural care is a gentle approach to working with people who sit or lie in a limited range of positions aiming to maintain or restore their body shape.
For people to have good postural care, they need to have 24 hour positioning support. This could be specialist seating, specialist wheelchair and / or support in lying. We would link with other professionals if necessary to provide any additional assessments that may be needed. The benefits are improved comfort, physical health, communication, increased quality of life, and reduced pain. Working closely with the person and their family to improve levels of comfort, health and wellbeing through good 24 hour positioning. Accredited postural care training is provided using the Simple Stuffworks package to ensure that everyone has a good knowledge of postural care.

Healthy Life Services are pleased to be able to offer accredited postural care training and assessments across Cambridgeshire and the local area.

Who would benefit from Postural Care?

Mansfield Checklist – Postural careskills / simplestuff works ©

Does your body stay in a limited number of positions?	yes	no
Are your knees drawn to one side, inwards or outwards?	yes	no
Are your arms and hands in a position where you can use them easily?	yes	no
Does your head mainly turn to one side ( left or right)	yes	no
Does your body tend to extend backwards? Flex forwards? Lean to one side?	yes	no
Is your body shape already asymmetric (not the same on both sides)?	yes	no

If you have answered yes to any of these questions you may benefit from postural care.

What to expect from a Postural Care Assessment

We will come and talk to you and the people who support you about how your postural care needs affect your daily life.

We may ask to see you lying down, in your wheelchair and the chair you sit in during the day. This will help us to think about what may help you to be more comfortable.

We will work with you and the people who support you to make a plan about how we can introduce any postural care recommendations we make eg support or equipment at night-time.

Accredited Postural Care Training

The accredited training package provided has been devised by Postural care skills CIC / Simplestuffworks. The training will give people an understanding about the principles of postural care and 24 hour positioning. On completion of the training people will received a level 2 award from the open college network. This is a vital piece of training for people working with someone who is at risk of developing a distorted body shape.