How to prevent elderly residents from falling is an ongoing challenge but one Christchurch aged care facility has found an effective solution.
WesleyCare provides rest home, hospital level and palliative care in Papanui and was struggling to prevent one resident in particular from falling when he got out of bed. Despite having a sensor mat on his floor and an additional landing mattress to help catch him, he was still falling several times a week, causing extensive bruising and minor skin tears.
“This dear sweet man has dementia and was frequently getting out of bed, stepping over his sensor mat, and then falling over,” explains WesleyCare Manager Donna Coxshall. “He just knew that if you stand on the mat, people appear, so he did his best to avoid it as much as possible. Our staff were also tripping over the landing mattress and hurting themselves so we were very keen to find a better solution.”
When Cubro first suggested trialling an ultra-low height Sentida SC bed, paired with a SafeSense intelligent bed exit sensor and a Greenline hyper-foam mattress, Donna was skeptical. “The Cubro rep said ‘we can guarantee there’ll be no more falls’. I didn’t quite believe him but we trialled it and sure enough, he’s been in that bed for the last four or five months and he hasn’t fallen once.”
Donna puts the success down to several things. “He was previously sleeping on an alternating air mattress but they can be quite cold, noisy and not that comfortable. Now he’s quite settled at night on his new mattress and he’s not getting sore.
“The bed’s sideguards are easily adjustable so now he’s able to pull himself up and just sit up in bed. He doesn’t actually need to get out. He just levers himself up when he wants to but doesn’t actually stand up anymore.”
Unlike other bed exit sensors, SafeSense tucks beneath the mattress so it doesn’t interfere with pressure care. It gives staff the earliest possible warning and more time to reach the resident if they start to move. It also connects to an automatic night light which comes on beneath the bed and deactivates when the resident returns.
The individual SafeSense alarm is adjustable from 0 to 30 minutes so can be tailored to each resident’s needs and mobility. And it also features a two-second delay to prevent any false alarms if a resident is merely shuffling around in bed.
The Sentida SC bed has an ultra-low height of 230mm and has full four-section electric functions with double sleeping surface retraction (mattress compensation) to reduce friction and shear forces and prevent pressure injuries.
“The staff like the new bed because it doesn’t look too clinical. It looks like a normal bed in a normal bedroom, and the controls are easy to use,” Donna says. “They can easily maneuver him in the bed and when they sit him up, he doesn’t slide down the other end. Cubro spent a fair bit of time training our staff on how to use it, so that was great.”
The Greenline mattress is made from ECOLAST foam which has an open cell structure to improve air circulation. The mattress is specifically designed for individuals at high risk of pressure injuries (up to stage four) and the super soft zones at the head and foot of the mattress provide head and heel pressure relief.
Greenline mattresses are also created with 22% less CO₂ emissions, are more durable, and are a responsible choice for health organisations who care about sustainable solutions. “That’s an added bonus for us,” Donna says. “At some point we all need to start taking sustainability into consideration when ordering equipment. It’s also very good in terms of hygiene and it’s easy to clean.”
Now that WesleyCare has seen the difference this combination of products can make to falls prevention, Donna plans to buy more as and when older beds needs replacing.
“I would recommend, if someone’s interested, to trial this bed, alarm and mattress and see how they go. It’s made an enormous difference for our gentleman and we’re very happy with it.”
Picture featuring Donna Coxshall, WesleyCare and Braxtyn Drake, Cubro Aged Care Account Manager.
To find out more about our range of falls prevention and pressure care solutions please get in touch with our team.
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