Wheelchair skills in hospital

Learning wheelchair skills can be the key to independence. It is often only by learning from experienced wheelchair users that these vital skills can be truly mastered. All of our qualified skills trainers have experience of living with a spinal cord injury and work alongside hospital staff to help spinal cord injured participants to learn techniques and gain confidence using a wheelchair.

We have over 15 years’ experience of running wheelchair skills sessions for manual and power chair users of any age, ability or level of injury. Our skills trainers will ensure that sessions are always tailored for the needs of the entire group.

A typical session will be held at a spinal centre or general hospital and will cover:

Manual chair

• Pushing technique
• Spatial awareness
• Getting over obstacles
• Tackling kerbs and thresholds
• Back-wheel balancing
• Steps and transfers (if time and equipment allows).

Power chair

• Chair setup
• Basic manoeuvres
• Spatial awareness
• Negotiating obstacles

“The best thing about the session for me today was that it was informative and instructive and along with the understanding and empathetic staff  in a similar position, the future is now in sight.”