Novel Ways Occupational Therapists Can Use Bodyweight Support Technology

By: Maddie Runyen, OTR/L, CSRS

 

Bodyweight support technology (BWST) is used in physical rehabilitation to offload a percentage of an individual’s body weight with a harness and robotic technology. Many existing technologies implement body weight support.

Bodyweight support technology decreases a person’s risk of further injury while also optimizing the challenges implemented in therapy. It can help increase confidence for both the patient and clinician when trying new, taxing activities in a safe environment. Strength, activity tolerance, and balance can simultaneously improve with the use of body weight support. There are various ways for occupational therapists to harness this technology for individuals at any level of care.

How Can Bodyweight Support Technology be Used?

Functional Tasks:

  • Easily applicable to activities of daily living (i.e., dressing) and instrumental activities of daily living (i.e., cleaning, cooking)
  • Transfers
  • Sitting or standing tasks
  • Quadruped or crawling

Engaging:

  • Task-specific training and specificity
  • Contextual practice
  • Leisure, fun, and creative interventions
  • Technology can be easily layered (i.e., electrical stimulation, virtual reality)

Intensity and Repetition:

  • Increases intensity and feasibility of meeting heart rate goals
  • Maximizes repetitions
  • Higher salience due to task challenge and whole-body engagement

Bodyweight Support Technology in Occupational Therapy

Practicing getting dressed

Fun, leisure activities such as playing basketball

Practicing meal preparation

Crawling and high repetition arm movement on a treadmill layered with electrical stimulation

Bodyweight support technology plays an integral role in providing the most innovative care at Sheltering Arms Institute. To find out if bodyweight support technology is right for your rehabilitative needs, please visit www.shelteringarmsinstitute.com/contact-us or call (804) 764-1000 to schedule an appointment with a therapist.

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