Written by Mike Price, OT
What began as an attempt to fulfill the seating requirements of various private occupational therapy clients has blossomed into a worldwide manufacturing operation providing therapeutic seating options for millions across the globe. Established in Limavady, Northern Ireland in 2008, the Seating Matters company was begun by Martina Tierney, an occupational therapist who spent many years working with patients in nursing homes, community, acute care, and rehab, specializing in adaptive seating protocols.
She grew increasingly frustrated with the lack of proper seating options to meet the varied range of her patients’ functional and clinical requirements. Tierney’s engineer husband, James, suggested they combine her clinical skills and experience with his engineering expertise to create chairs that would truly meet the vast and disparate needs of her clients. These needs included pressure management, comfort, posture, mobility, and other functional requirements, along with easy adjustability.
Not only did they meet that goal, but they exceedingly surpassed it and revolutionized the therapeutic seating industry with their creative innovations. As the word grew among the OT community, the Tierney family was increasingly encouraged to start manufacturing their chairs to a larger public market. They incepted Seating Matters in Northern Ireland ten years ago, and now serve therapists and patients in the UK, Europe, Australia, Canada, Northern Ireland, and the USA.
Evolved from over 30 years of experience with different patient needs, the product development at Seating Matters has guaranteed that these chairs are aesthetically pleasing as well as highly functional. Rejecting the outdated, institutional look, the design team has formulated the chairs to fit within a home environment, without compromising on quality or performance.
All Seating Matters chairs are subject to stringent and rigorous in-house testing, specifically engineered to provide optimum support and function in a durable, long-lasting frame. Constructed for stability, each chair has a wide, substantial base with a low center of gravity, providing users protection and safety, even when engaging the maximum tilt in space position. Each chair from Seating Matters also offers an incredibly generous 7-year manufacturer’s warranty (some limits may apply).
These therapeutic chairs are also the only clinically-trialed chairs on the market, with concrete, independently-tested results. Conducted at Ulster University, this randomized control trial explored the impact of specialized seating prescriptions on a group of older adults in different care settings. It demonstrated the importance of suitable seating options in reducing postural difficulties and pressure ulcer development, and how correct seating can positively influence not only the chair's users, but the people caring for them. The study proved that using the correct therapeutic seating for each person can lead to:
A Variety of Seating Solutions to Match Your NeedsThis company offers several different chair models to specifically accommodate its different occupants’ needs, with a helpful brochure written by Martina Tierney to assist potential users, and help them determine which chair will best fit their needs. These selections include the Sorrento, the Bariatric Sorrento, the Atlanta, the Phoenix, the Monaco, the Monaco Riser, and the Milano. Every chair offers a variety of helpful benefits, and can assist a range of users with various issues, including:
One of the company’s most popular models, the Milano, is especially well suited to serve multiple users with various, unique needs, making it the perfect choice for long-term care facilities, hospitals, rehab centers, medical equipment rental centers, and other institutional operations. This accessible chair is highly adjustable in all ways to fit different patients, with seat width, seat depth, and footplate height all easy to change.
With its innovative design and ability to pass stringent infection control protocols, the Milano provides comfortable support, positioning, and unrivaled pressure management for a wide range of patients who still maintain some degree of mobility. It includes a host of beneficial features such as tilt-in-space, an elevating legrest, a back angle recline, an adjustable seat depth and width, adjustable (and removable) footplate heights and angles, hip abduction support, a removable seat cushion, and support for wind-swept sitting.
With her passion and commitment to provide her patients with better seating choices, Martina Tierney changed the industry with her worldwide family business, Seating Matters. This company takes great pride in being on the leading edge of seating innovation, and is changing the face of the therapeutic seating field with their research and experience. “We have a vision to change the world of healthcare seating,” says Tierney. “Our passion is to educate as many clinicians as possible so as to support them with evidence-based practice and clinical justification in order to enhance patient care.”
Co-Founder of Rehabmart and an Occupational Therapist since 1993. Mike has spent his professional career working in multiple areas of Occupational Therapy, including pediatrics, geriatrics, hand therapy, ergonomics and inpatient / outpatient rehabilitation. Mike enjoys writing articles that help people solve complex therapeutic problems and make better product choices.
.jpg&maxheight=250&width=365&product_name=Body Aligner Positioner Pillow with Cover from AliMed "Body Aligner Positioner Pillow with Cover from AliMed")
