COMFORT
I had rather forgotten about ‘comfort’ as it had been shot down by the scientific community as far back as 2003 (again see sittingsafely.com/comfort/ . It should be, as in the Hippocratic oath – Do no harm. After last week (2015) I have added “This is important ……with ‘comfort’ which misleads, being that treacherous guide which only turns up truthfully when the bio-mechanics (ergonomics) are fully correct. At present there is no chair on the market that does not have this potential. Simply, prolonged sitting results in backache. Stop. At least potentially for about 70% of users and health problems for 100%.
The search for comfort may have misled chair designers resulting in no ergonomic optimum chair on the market. ☛ Comfort→
ADJUSTMENTS
A plethora of adjustments is confusing and can be adverse if adjusted wrongly. Ideally they should be avoided as far as is possible. This should benefit both design and cost ☛ Adjustments→
MOVEMENT & EXERCISE
- Spinal movement & change of position are important for a number of reasons including IV disc nutrition. ☛ Movement & exercise→
- ‘Dynamic Seating’.Recently there has been interest in continuous small amplitude movement for upright chairs, the chair re-aligning with the users centre of gravity. ☛ Various chairs. How do they measure up?
- 2T exercise and movement systems ☛ The unstable TRANSITIONAL MODE. It’s importance.
- Sit/Stand. ☛ SIT/STAND (& stools)→ . Bio-mechanically superior to the use of existing upright chairs and can be an adjunct to the 2T system which then becomes a ☛ 4M work-station→ concept (and a ‘full’ solution).
SLEEP
Seep of between 30 and 90 minutes in the afternoon could help companies improve productivity. ☛ Sleep→
FAMILIARITY BIAS
Chair designers say “I agree but this concept is ahead of it’s time. Familiarity bias will strike in and uptake will be poor.” PR people say the opposite. “This is a ‘paradigm change’. Once people understand that it is safe and possibly even safer than any existing chairs, they will embrace them. There will be large media interest. This will ensure automatic PR,” Big uptake will occur rapidly and firms without a 2T product in their range will miss out, possibly terminally (to use medical jargon). They may experience ’ Normalcy Bias’ as did the good people of New Orleans as hurricane ‘Katrina’ approached. See ☛ Familiarity bias→
SPECIAL NEEDS
People with ‘special needs’ are universal and these needs require to be addressed, particularly in a reclined mode. The 2T concept is particularly suited for this. See ☛ special needs→