Methods of preventing falls in the elderly have improved greatly over the years, and technology and fall management strategies in hospitals and nursing homes have all contributed to improve care of patients, residents and family members at risk of a fall.
One of the main improvements in technology has been to give carers and nurses "advanced warning" when there is a risk of a fall. This is commonly when a person at risk of falling leaves their bed or chair. The latest bed sensor mats and chair sensors are able to alert the carer or nursing staff or indeed warn the person themselves to stay where they are until assistance arrives.
The elderly in particular can be at risk of falling for a variety of reasons including cognitive problems, restricted mobility, loss of balance, dizziness, medication and muscle weakness for example.
So when you need to be alerted to the risk of a fall, what are your options? Here we quickly summarise the products available that should be of interest:
Bed Sensor Mats - a mat is placed in the bed under the sheets or under the mattress. The bed mat is connected to an alarm which is activated when the mat detects that the person is about to leave the bed. There are several alarm options:
A friendly voice reminder can be played, such as: "stay in bed John, I'm on my way". A friendly voice is particularly helpful when someone is confused, especially when they awake during the night, and a friendly voice is reassuring. The sensor mat detects if the person has not returned to bed and will play the reminder a second time. If they still do not return to bed the carer is alerted.
An alternative version will sound an alarm only to notify nearby staff/carers to attend. A light also flashes to help with identifying who's alarm has been activated in a multi-occupancy room.
A third version will connect to a nurse call system and alert staff via their monitoring system. In this case the room monitor can be set to silent if preferred to avoid noise in a shared room.
Chair Sensor mats - as above, the chair sensor mat is placed in a chair or wheel chair and detects when a person is about to leave their chair. The same alarm
options described above also apply.
Fall prevention has many options and all our bed sensor mats, chair sensor mats and monitors are interchangeable so you can tailor your requirements -
whether you are a hospital or nursing home or a home carer.
For further advice, please talk to one of our fall prevention specialists on 1890 344 344 or email info@homecaretechnologies.com.
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