Rachel, a 94 year old female, had arthritis in her left knee and a history of falls. She mobilized with a walking frame and needed assistance for all transfers.
Rachel was part of the intervention group within the research trial, which meant that she was assessed and matched with specialist seating from the Seating Matters range.
Rachel’s old chair was not made to fit her size and the long seat depth and high seat height were causing her to slide from the chair, resulting in a nearly horizontal resting position for long periods of the day.
Rachel had high pressure underneath small, bony, load bearing areas like her heels, sacrum, shoulders and the back of her head. This was both very uncomfortable, as well as being non-functional.
The caregiver’s main frustrations were that no matter how well they tried to position Rachel, she would always slide into the posture shown in the image to the right, ‘bracing’ herself in the chair with this extended position. It then became very hard to assist Rachel to stand, as she could no longer position her feet behind her knees in a ‘ready stand’ position, or use the armrests for propulsion and support. Upon assessment, it was found that Rachel had no postural difficulties that would cause her to slide from the chair and it was simply due to the oversized seating, which could not be adjusted to suit her needs, that she was sliding into this position.
Once positioned in the char, Rachel no longer slid into a near-horizontal position and she was able to easily maintain upright posture, as well as recruit flexion at her knees and hips. Rachel felt that the chair was very comfortable and her emotional well-being greatly improved because she could now achieve small tasks, such as enjoying a scone and cup of tea easily and without fear of spilling it on herself or choking.
Prior to the provision of the Monaco™ chair, two caregivers were required to assist Margaret into a standing position, but by using the adjustable back angle recline on the Monaco™, her posture improved and the number of caregivers required was reduced to one. Also, she no longer needed to brace herself in the chair and her feet were fully loaded.
Since using the Monaco™ chair, which was manufactured and adjusted according to her size, the risk of developing pressure injuries on the bony prominences that she was forced to lie on previously, has been significantly reduced, since Rachel is now able to spread her body weight over a larger surface area, redistributing pressure.
Discover the Monaco – Pressure Management Chair for Mobile Patients
** This post was originally published on http://blog.seatingmatters.com/rachels-story
