Hi Ron, this approach has been tried (and failed) in the past. Mum is a rather
interesting character who is trying to make her daughter more 'disabled' than
she is. This child has a very mild spastic CP and is in fact ambulatory.
There is no functional reason why she should not be mobilising independently
into a level access shower. Mum has pushed us into providing equipement in the
past, since it's a 'free' service for her, and now is trying to manipulate
things in order to have her own way (through approaching various senior
channels). We've discussed this with the head of the OT service, unfortunately
the amount of backing received through the HOD is limited as she often tends to
cave in to pressure in order to avoid conflict. Our reasoning is that this
child has the functional skills to be independent without all the bells and
whistles that mum is insisting on.
The shower chair in no way benefits her and she is more likely to slide out of
it than remain in it. From our perspective it puts her more 'at risk' than
providing it would.
I do appreciate any advice/input
Veronica
"....Good question, but I'm pretty confident there's NO research on this
subject. However, what you may find is anecdotal evidence(i.e.
experience of others) this device with neurological patients. If you
provide more information, OTlist readers may be able to provide such
evidence.
Also, I find that ALL adaptive equipment, is a combination of "good" and
"bad". Generally, I do a "cost/benefit analysis" and present this to the
patient/caregiver. Perhaps you can discuss and even show the mom both
the good and bad of the equipment. This will then allow her to make an
informed decision. To me, THIS is best practice and also empowers and
educates the mom."
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