Condition:
- Mild learning and behavioural difficulties
- Polio
- Stroke
Challenges:
- Poor risk awareness
- Upper limb weakness
- Impulsive behaviour
- Unable to transfer independently
Functional benefits:
- Hi-lo function
Description of case:
John is a 65-year-old gentleman who lives in supported accommodation with 24-hour care. John has mild learning and behavioural difficulties, he has poor risk awareness and impulsive behaviour at times. As a result of polio, John has always been dependent on callipers to support his lower limbs when mobilising, however when indoors he tends to crawl and pull himself up using his upper limb strength to transfer on and off furniture independently.
Main issues:
John experienced a stroke which resulted in weakness in his upper limbs and has had a significant impact on his functional levels, leaving him unable to transfer on and off his furniture without assistance. The impact on his upper limb function resulted in John becoming dependent on the carers to assist him with all transfers. Due to John’s learning difficulties and impulsive behaviour, he would often transfer off the bed independently and require significant assistance from the carers to assist him off the floor. This placed strain on the carers and they were considering the provision of a hoist to manage this, however, they were concerned about how John would react to this.
Intervention:
An ultra-low FloorBed was put into place for a trial and set at the lowest point of 71 mm from the ground. The floor-level height of the bed meant that John did not require as much upper limb strength to pull himself up onto the bed. As a result, John was once again able to transfer into bed safely and independently as and when he wished, giving him back his dignity and independence.
Outcomes:
The carers reported that the FloorBed has a very positive impact on their role as well; not only did the bed greatly reduce the physical strain, it also reduced the amount of supervision and assistance John required to ensure he remained safe. The provision of the ultra-low FloorBed provided additional benefits for John as it eliminated the need for further manual handling equipment such as a hoist. The risk of an injury when transferring out of bed was significantly reduced too, due to the floor-level height which minimised the impact when transferring; once on the bed, the bed could be raised to allow for a sliding transfer onto the wheelchair and mobile shower chair/commode and the bed could be raised to an appropriate height to allow for care to be carried out safely.
