Comfort, Tilt-in-Space or Multifunctional, are all labels used to describe manual wheelchairs designed for all day use, mostly for elderly users that require more support than a standard manual wheelchair will provide. These wheelchairs are easy to identify and recognise by their larger, contoured backrest and adjustable headrest. They are mostly prescribed when elderly users are slumping forward in a standard wheelchair and they need some help to rebalance themselves.

They are typically prescribed for users that spend most of their out of bed hours in a wheelchair. They differ from the usual wheelchairs because they are designed to give optimum comfort, support and pressure relief, by use of a variety of adjustability options unavailable in standard chairs.

The typical adjustments are as follows:

  1. Adjustability in seat depth and width. This allows you adjust the wheelchair to the best customised size of the user, considering their height and weight.
  2. Backrest Recline. Allows you alter the angle of the backrest.
  3. Tilt-in-Space movement, which allows you to alter the angle of the chair whilst maintaining the ideal posture. This is also very helpful to maintain visual contact with people and their surroundings.
    It is important to frequently alter the the weight load on the users back and bottom, helping avoid pressure sores. A slight movement up or down is all that is required to alter the focus of the weight load while a person is sitting for long periods.
  4. Armrest adjustments. Allows you to alter the armrest height and retract armrests while dining to allow closer proximity to the table.
  5. Headrest adjustments. This design helps support the head with forward and side adjustability. This can be helpful if gravity is forcing the head downwards toward the chest. Simply raise the angle a bit with the tilt option and it becomes easier to balance the weight of the occupants head.

These wheelchairs are usually aluminium, crash test passed and designed for occupied transport in an ambulance, wheelchair taxi or specialist van/coach. They’re not meant for car boot storage. They will mostly be recommended by a healthcare professional or mobility expert and not self-selected by the public, due to the more complex nature of their design and adjustability.