How much force must the carers use?
Example
Margret spends a lot of time in bed and needs to be repositioned about 10 times a day.
If you use cotton sheets instead of sliding sheets, approx. 20 kg more force is used per positioning. In one day, it will be 200 kg extra to reposition Margret.
Where Margret lives, there are about 50 housing units. Of these units, about half of the residents need help with transfers.
If all patients are repositioned as often as Margret, this means that the carers move an extra 5 tons per day if cotton sheets are used instead of sliding sheets.
If you use cotton sheets instead of sliding sheets, approx. 20 kg more force is used per positioning. In one day, it will be 200 kg extra to reposition Margret.
Where Margret lives, there are about 50 housing units. Of these units, about half of the residents need help with transfers.
If all patients are repositioned as often as Margret, this means that the carers move an extra 5 tons per day if cotton sheets are used instead of sliding sheets.
In other words...
That's how you move the weight of an elephant a day
and, in a month, a whole herd of elephants!
How can we avoid moving the weight of an elephant per day?
By using the Immedia SatinSheet 2Direction BaseSheet together with the 2Direction DrawSheet or the 4Direction DrawSheet, we can change this.
We have measured how much force in kg it takes to position a person sideways with these combinations in comparison to using cotton sheets with traditional draw sheets.
- The test person weighs approx. 65 kg
- Cotton sheets and traditional draw sheets: 27.5 kg
- Immedia SatinSheet 2Direction BaseSheet and Immedia 2Direction DrawSheet : 11.3 kg
- Immedia SatinSheet 2Direction BaseSheet and Immedia 4Direction DrawSheet : 7 kg
Conclusion
- The difference between using cotton sheets with traditional draw sheets and Immedia SatinSheet 2Direction BaseSheet with Immedia 2Direction DrawSheet:
- 59% reduction of strain when drawing - The difference between using cotton sheets with traditional draw sheets and immedia SatinSheet 2Direction BaseSheets + Immedia 4Direction DrawSheets:
- 75% reduction of strain when drawing
How did we do this?
We found these results by taking measurements together with healthcare professionals from Karlskoga Municipality:
Katriina Henrysson, Movement instructor
Maria Eklund Johansson, Occupational therapist
Alexandra Kinell, Occupational therapist student
Katriina Henrysson, Movement instructor
Maria Eklund Johansson, Occupational therapist
Alexandra Kinell, Occupational therapist student
Elephants weight
Asian elephant: 4.000 kg
Savanna elephant: 6.000 kg
Forest elephant: 2.700-6.000 kg
Newborn elephant: approx 120 kg
Source: Wikipedia. Elephant images: www.pixabay.com