Condition:
- Osteoarthritis
- Oedematous lower limbs
Challenges:
- Poor mobility
- Struggles with transfers
Functional benefits:
- Floor-level height
- Ligting pole
- Bed lever
Description of case:
Gerry is a 78-year-old gentleman who lives in his own home with his brother. Gerry has severe osteoarthritis which affects many of his joints and results in significant pain and restricted range of movement in his hips and knees. In addition, his lower limbs have become very oedematous and he has poor skin integrity. Gerry has difficulty with his transfers and poor mobility, and he is only able to take a few steps at a time.
Main issues:
As Gerry has arestricted range of movement, he requires additional space when turning in bed and so was provided with a 4 feet wide bed to help manage this. Unfortunately as his bedroom could not accommodate the bed, it had to remain in the lounge. Although Gerry has retained his ability to manage his sit to stand transfers, he has been unable to lift his legs into his low profiling bed of 200 mm (350 mm with mattress) for some time, so two carers assisted him each morning and evening with his bed transfers using a hoist. The set up caused many problems for Gerry, his brother and the carers, and so alternative interventions were considered. An ultra-low bed was put in place and did enable Gerry to lift his legs into bed with minimal difficulty. However, he struggled with his bed mobility as it was not possible to install a bed lever, so he was still dependent on carers to assist him. In addition, the knee break function on this bed failed on a number of occasions.
Intervention:
A FloorBed was put into place for a trial with a lifting pole and a bed lever to assist with Gerry’s bed mobility. When sitting on the bed, Gerry lowered the bed as required. The floor height of the bed allowed Gerry to use his feet to shuffle himself further back in the bed. When in a safe and appropriate position, he lowered the bed to the lowest point of 71 mm (220 mm with mattress) from the floor and was able to slide his legs into bed rather than lift them, enabling him to manage this task independently. In addition, Gerry benefitted from the lifting pole and bed levers on either side, which he is able to reach at all times to assist with his bed mobility.
Outcomes:
Gerry no longer requires assistance with his bed transfers and so the care package was reduced from two carers each morning and evening to just one carer each morning; this resulted in a saving of £7,068.00 per year.
