The chair is usually ordered by catalog size, and the person who will sit in it for hours is measured by no one. Before anyone orders, rents, or accepts a wheelchair from a loan closet, measure the person who will sit in it, then check the chair against those numbers. A chair that fits the hallway but not the hips will be hard to sit in and harder to move, and that is the fit problem this guide is about.
Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.
Measure the person seated
Sit the person in a firm chair, the way they will sit in the wheelchair, with feet on the floor or on a low stool. Measure across the widest part of the hips while they sit. Measure from the back of the hips to the back of the knee, which gives you the seat depth. Measure from the seat up to the bent elbow, which sets the armrest height. Measure from the floor to the back of the heel, which sets the footrest height. Write each number on one sheet and keep it with the chair paperwork, not in a drawer where it cannot be found.
Check the chair against the numbers
Ask the supplier which seat widths they stock and whether the chair can be swapped or adjusted in width. A seat that is too narrow pinches at the hips. A seat that is too wide lets the person slide to one side, and that makes every transfer harder for whoever is doing the lifting. Seat depth matters at the back of the knee. If the seat is too deep, its edge presses behind the knee, and if it is too shallow, less of the thigh is supported. Ask which of these the chair can change and which it cannot before delivery day.
Footrests and the floor
Footrests are the step most families skip. If they sit too high, the thighs lift off the seat and the back of the knee presses. If they sit too low, the feet hang or drag on the floor. Ask whoever sets them to adjust for the measured height, then have the person sit in the chair for a full morning. Watch whether the feet stay in place and whether the person is sliding down in the seat over the course of the hour. Any change you notice goes on the sheet, next to the numbers.
Name who fits it and who adjusts it
A chair that fit at delivery may not fit later, since the way a person sits can change over time, so the adjustment question does not end when the chair arrives. Ask the hospice team who supplies the wheelchair, whether a therapist or the supplier does the fitting, and who comes back when the fit no longer works. Write that name and phone number on the measurement sheet. When the body changes, the numbers change, and the person who wrote them down should be the one who calls.
Before you say yes
Ask five things: the seat width, the seat depth, whether the footrests can be set to this person's measured height, who sets them, and who calls when the fit goes wrong. Ask every supplier or loan source the same five questions, and compare the answers in writing. If the answer is that it should be fine, ask for the number. For names of supply sources in the area, see Local Help for Hospice Families, and call each one with the measurements already on paper.