TherapyEd Occupational Therapy (OT) Exam A Practice

In a seating assessment, the focus expands from simply fitting the chair to optimizing tissue health and long-term comfort. Pressure mapping is a tool that shows how forces are distributed across the seating surface, helping identify high-pressure zones and guide decisions about cushion type, thickness, and contouring to reduce skin breakdown and shear. Cushion selection directly follows from this, tailoring interface materials to the person’s anatomy, activity, moisture, and transfer needs to achieve better stability and pressure redistribution. These steps require detailed analysis of how the user interacts with the chair over time, something that's central to a comprehensive evaluation. In contrast, aspects like cosmetic appearance or monitoring vitals during movement fall outside the core scope of optimizing seating interface and are more relevant to other clinical considerations or basic mobility assessment. Therefore, pressure mapping and cushion selection are the elements most characteristic of a comprehensive seating assessment.