In November 2023, our Physiotherapist and Seating Therapist Nicole Whitehead travelled to Melbourne, Victoria for the 2023 Oceania Seating Symposium. The Symposium took place over 3 days at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wurunjeri Country on the banks of the Birrarung (Yarra River). Nicole had the opportunity to network with other therapists from Australia and New Zealand, meet and speak with a variety of wheelchair suppliers, learn about and experience new seating products, and attend presentations by local and overseas presenters.
The presentations were an opportunity for Nicole to broaden her knowledge and skillset, and to improve the outcomes of wheelchair users as part of ActiveLINC’s Seating Service. Nicole attended presentations discussing:
- The management of scoliosis
- Sleep positioning systems
- A new, online wheelchair prescription tool
- ROVE Wheelchairs – a new Australian wheelchair manufacturer
A particularly interesting presentation was that by Andrew Slorance of UK company Phoenix Instinct. Andrew shared his journey from sustaining a spinal cord injury as a young man to leading the creation of one of the first carbon fibre active manual wheelchairs. Andrew and Phoenix Instinct are currently working on developing a manual wheelchair with a power assist option built directly into the wheelchair frame at the castor wheels. Phoenix Instinct have also developed a series of wheeled travel bags that are purpose designed to be wheelchair compatible.
If you’re interested in any of the products or topics we’ve mentioned in this post, get in touch with us by emailing you can Contact Us, or talk to your support coordinator for more information! If you’re not already linked with a support coordinator but have funding for this support, fill out our enquiry form to see if we currently have availability to help you on your journey!
