Recent figures show that of 45,000 people aged over 65 years within one local authority, just over 1 in 3 will fall, 1 in 20 will attend hospital as a result and 1 in 40 will sustain a fracture. The average cost to health (NHS) and social care of a single hip fracture is £30,000.
Lows Beds To Reduce The Risk From Falls
Low beds are useful as part of a multi-faceted approach to reduce the risk of injuries from falls from bed.Low beds are useful as part of a multi-faceted approach to reduce the risk of injuries from falls from bed.
Split or full length side rails with conformance to BS EN 1970 may be fitted, which reduces the chance of falling out of bed.
For dementia patients where it is assessed as being a high risk of injury of falls, we often recommend the use of a low bed with head end assist / side rails with protective padding.
BaKare’s low beds will adjust as low as 25cm above the ground and will rise to 82cm high. Many other low beds suffer from overly large footboards due to their design, making the user feel ‘boxed in’.
Our design is unique because they retain the standard footboard and appearance whilst offering true low bed and high bed range of height adjustment.
Lows Beds as an Alternative to Leg Lifters
We find that this can mean transferring into bed without assistance, thus increasing independence & well beingWhen transferring into bed, raising legs and feet up onto the bed can be difficult for both carers and users. Motorised, mechanical leg-lifters are one way of acheiving this, however users often compain that they are bulky, expensive devices retro fitted to the bed.
An often overlooked benefit of our low beds is that instead of using a mechanical leg lifter to raise the feet, the bed may be lowered closer to the ground with the user sat on the bed and feet on the floor, effectively raising the feet nearer to the mattress height.
For partially independent users of our beds, we find that this can mean transferring into bed without assistance, thus increasing independence & well being, whilst reducing costs and demand on care.
