Colin’s story: Enabling independence and mobility

Description of case:

Colin is an 84-year-old gentleman who lives with his wife. He is independent with all transfers other than bed transfers, as he has difficulty lifting his legs into bed. Colin mobilises with a walking frame, but he has a history of falls when mobilising. Colin has Type 2 diabetes, glaucoma and a history of prostate cancer, resulting in an urgent need to empty his bladder. He has also had decompression surgery for myelopathy, heart surgery, a history of UTIs and feels a frequent burning sensation in his legs.

Main issues:

When Colin started experiencing difficulty lifting his legs into bed, the Occupational Therapist trialled a manual leg lifter followed by a powered leg lifter. Unfortunately these interventions were unsuccessful and he was still unable to transfer into bed unaided. As a result, Colin became dependent on a carer who visited each evening to assist him with lifting his legs into bed. The consequence of this was that Colin was unable to choose when he went to bed and was assisted each evening at the same time. In addition, if Colin needed to go to the lavatory at night, he would then have to remain in the chair for the rest of the night, as he was unable to transfer back into bed. This increased the burning sensation in his legs and impacted on his sleep patterns.

Intervention:

A FloorBed was put into place for a trial.

Outcomes:

Once sitting safely on the bed, Colin lowered the bed to the lowest height of 71 mm from the ground. At this point, with assistance from a bed lever, Colin was able to independently slide his legs into bed with minimal effort. Colin reports that the FloorBed has enabled him to choose when he wishes to go to bed, as he is no longer dependent on a carer. In addition, he is able to go to the toilet at night, returning safely and independently back to bed, rather than spending the rest of the night in a chair.