New developments at leading mobility equipment innovator AAT GB are supporting Occupational Therapists in their fulfilment of RCOT guidance on falls.
Data(1) reveals that of the 2.6million falls in the home each year by people over the age of 65, only 4%- 140,000- result in a trip to hospital. If people do not have the ability to pick themselves up, they face the prospect of a “long lie” whilst they wait for either a care giver or emergency services to pick them up.
That can be more dangerous than the fall itself, experts say(2), physically and/or psychologically.
AAT is rising to the challenge by expanding its range of easy-to-use, compact fall recovery options.
Prescription of the aids has multiple benefits for elderly clients:
- It eliminates the risk of a ‘long lie’
- It avoids adding pressure to already stretched ambulance crews
- It removes the psychological worry for the client
- It represents positive risk
It further supports their care-givers, reducing effort and strain in the in physically helping the client back to sitting or standing.
Observes AAT Director Peter Wingrave:
“RCOT falls guidance states ‘contingency planning for the management of future falls that may occur should be explored. This may include advice and practice, where appropriate, on [] how to avoid the consequences of a ‘long lie’- lying on the floor after a fall for a period of 60 minutes or more.’
“The simple step of prescribing aids that empower the client to pick themselves up, that is easy for them to use, that can be re-allocated to someone else when they no longer need it, is surely a reasonable and practical consideration in any falls management strategy?”
AAT’s fall recovery aids are all compact, fold-away solutions that are tried, tested and proven in domestic and healthcare environments. Battery-powered, the equipment is fully portable. AAT’s fall recovery equipment can safely restore anyone up to 150kg (23st) from being prone on the floor. With their integral seat, they give the client confidence and the time to rebalance.
Details of AAT’s range of lifting devices can be found here: https://www.aatgb.com/lifting-devices/. AAT offers a free, no obligation assessment service to support OTs, and provides training of the recipient on the equipment’s correct usage as part of the service.