Bed Mobility and Transfers in Spinal Cord Injury

Original Editor - usersname Top Contributors - Eugenie Lamprecht, Naomi O'Reilly, Kim Jackson, Anas Mohamed, Lucinda hampton and Angeliki Chorti  

Introduction

Bed mobility and transfers are extremely important functional activities which individuals with SCI require to master for independent mobility and QoL. The SCI level and whether or not the SCI is complete or incomplete is directly associated with the individual’s ability to perform certain functional activities. The knowledge of the specific motor functions attainable to each level of SCI is important for therapists to work towards and when setting goals.

5 Functional activities that C6 tetraplegia and paraplegia should be able to perform:

1. Rolling.
2. Mobilzing from supine to long sitting.
3. Unsupported sitting.
4. Lifting vertically.
5. Transferring.

When we perform and practice these activities it’s important to determine the underlying impairments in order to obtain the functional activity. Common impairments are;

• Strength.
• Balance.
• Spasticity or Range of motion.
• Skill and/ or Knowledge of the specific activity.

When retraining these functional activities it is important to practice often, practice sub-tasks, and make sub-tasks progressively more difficult. Also remember to provide sufficient feedback and appropriate instructions, demonstrations, and manual guidance.

Bed Mobility & Transfers

1. Rolling

Importance

• pressure relief,
• transferring to sitting,
• dressing, and
• changing position in bed.

Sub-tasks

• Swinging the ULs towards the opposite direction of the roll, while lifting and rotating the head. -  creating momentum.
• Swinging the ULs towards the direction of the roll, while lifting and rotating the head. (These 2 sub-tasks may have to be repeated to gain sufficient momentum.)

References

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