The present disclosure relates to aids, methods, devices and apparatus to assist caregivers in adjusting the position and posture of patients or invalids in chairs.
A common problem identified in long term care facilities is the worsening of posture of wheel chair bound patients, and harm to caregivers seeking to adjust and improve patient posture.
Slouching is a natural occurrence in wheel chair users, with known negative consequences. The neck and back muscle begin to stiffen and becomes very uncomfortable. Not only is the position uncomfortable but it is also un-dignifying to invalid wheelchair users having to be in that position for extended period of time. However, the ability to correct posture requires effort on the part of the patient or the caregiver.
Restraints and constraints are imperfect, and the long term care industry is leaning away from constraints in wheelchairs as a means to prevent poor posture.
From a caregiver perspective the slouching presents a problem of time and the potential for injury. One existing method to correct posture is to use a two person procedure to reposition the wheel chair user. This takes extra time and an extra caregiver who could be doing another assigned task. Another method is to use products that are designed to prevent patients from sliding forward, such as the uni-directional friction pad sold under ERGOGLIDE 5300™, by ErgoSafe Products, and form fitting gel, memory foam or molded seat cushions.
However, patients inevitably slide forward, when unrestrained, and when they do, the above products still require the caregiver to use upper body and back muscles to do the majority of the work in repositioning the invalid patient. This action increases the probability of injury to the caregiver. As such, the current methods and products for repositioning are ineffective and pose hazards of injury to the caregiver and wheel chair user.
There is a need for a reposition, slouch correction device and method which permits a single caregiver to use leg muscles to provide slouch correcting repositioning to a person in a chair.
There is a need for a patient slouch correcting device which improves patient and caregiver safety, comfort and dignity.
There is a need for a patient slouch correcting device which is able to withstand industrial washing and repeated use.
A slouch correction device, or the aid, is provided for use in a chair, in which the slouch correction device is predominantly a loose seat cover on which a patient would sit, one or more straps from the seat cover which pass through one or more openings between the chair back and seat to secure to or form a harness about the waist of a caregiver, such that a care giver is able to use pull on the harness to slide the seat cover and patient seated thereon back into an improved, upright posture position.
Optionally, the slouch correction device may be further provided with side folds and lateral hand holds to permit two person lifting, or to facilitate use by a single user.
The straps are secured to a harness about the caregiver, which may be a belt, adjustable loop, or attachment means to detachably attach from each other to form a belt about a care giver. Alternatively, the straps from the sling/seat cover of the aid may be provided with attachment means for detachably attaching to corresponding attachment means on a harness or belt worn by the caregiver. Such attachment means may include, Velcro, male/female clipping attachments or interconnections, ladder locks, belt buckles, backpackers slide, snaps, or the like.
The harness about the caregiver is either detachable from the straps, or formed by the straps wrapping around the caregiver to detachably form a secure loop.
This device has potential to eliminate injury due to this task, allows the wheel chair user to be positioned quickly, and/or allows the wheelchair user to be repositioned without direct physical contact from the caregiver.
The device may be laid on any chair, including a wheelchair, having one or more openings between the chair seat and the chair back. The straps are passed through the one or more openings of the chair. The seat cover portion is made of a material such that a top side of the seat cover has a higher expected co-efficient of friction between the top side and the patient than the bottom side of the seat cover has with the chair seat. In this fashion, the device slides with the patient when the patient slides. When a patient slides forward into a forward slouching position with the patient's posterior away from the chair back, a caregiver attaches the straps to a harness about his or her waist, and is able to use free hands to hold the chair or the patient, while moving hips and legs backwards to slide the patient into a preferred position. The steps of the method are:
The method prefers a device formed of resilient materials in order to permit repetitive application of the tensile forces needed to move patients, some of whom may be quite heavy.
The slouch correction device is for use by a patient seated on a chair having a chair seat, chair back and dorsal opening between the chair seat and chair back, and by a caregiver. The slouch correction comprises a seat cover portion for positioning on the chair seat having one or more reward facing straps and a harness detachably attachable to the rearward straps. Although only two straps are shown in the drawings, one strap or a plurality of straps feeding to one or more straps may also be included with this disclosure. The harness may be a belt, or may be provided with additional clips or comfort features for a caregiver using the aid. Optionally, the seat cover may be a reinforced textile mat. Optionally, the rearward straps may have harness interconnection pieces thereon for interconnection to strap interconnections on the harness, or may simply slip around the harness and secure to themselves, or be secured and tightened in some other known manner using clips or buckles on the harness. Optionally, the seat cover portion has side panels to form a sling shape, and one or more handles on either side portion can facilitate a two person lift, and dual handle holds on each side permit each person in a two person lift to use both hands without the hand holds bunching together.
When not in use, the straps may be detachably attached to interconnection on the back of the chair.
The preferred embodiments of the slouch correction device will now be explained in greater detail with reference to the accompanying figures.
As shown in
Ancillary straps 7, 8, 9 and 10 may be used to position the device on the chair, or to perform two person lifts, if desired. The lateral ancillary straps 9 and 10 are shown affixed to lateral fabric wings 6. In a basic design, the wings and ancillary straps are not needed. The overall design and the preferred method of operation allows the caregiver to keep their spine aligned and use their leg and arm muscles to readjust the patient in the seat of the wheel chair. Using this method and the device disclosed herein, a single caregiver is able to reposition the patient without placing undue strain on their back and further, the harness system provides improved leverage to reposition the patient. Further, the care giver does not need to directly touch the patient.
As shown in
In a second preferred embodiment shown in
The ideology of the design is simplicity. Therefore the belt/harness 40 of
There are advantages to the second embodiment over the first embodiment. Using male and female clips on the sling permits the portions to be clipped together while not performing posture correction. In this fashion, the rearward straps will not hang low and create a hazard. Clipping the interconnections of the sling together during washing also reduces damage and extends useful life of the device.
In use, to reposition a slouching patient using this slouch correction device, the caregiver locks the brakes on the wheelchair, wears the harness portion of the and positions themselves behind the wheel chair. The patient will be sitting upon the sling/seat cover portion, with the fabric straps 3 (assuming the device of
The operation of the device requires forces according to the following basic equation.
Ff=μFN
Where: Ff=Force of friction, μ=Coefficient of friction, FN=Force normal from the patient's weight.
The force that the caregiver must apply is proportional to the coefficient of friction of the materials that are sliding against each other and the weight of the patient, and is shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Dual handles 55 at each lift position are more ergonic for two person lifts. In the fourth example, there are dual handles at the side positions, and the fore and aft handles are omitted. The aid is better suited for a person's natural body mechanics while repositioning a patient.
The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of protection sought for the invention disclosed herein. The description of the embodiments of the slouch correction device disclosed herein is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims, and many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
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