CARE AIDS FOR HOME USE
Be it transfer aids, positioning aids, special seat cushions or side tables - all these care aids bring more flexibility and make everyday life easier for elderly people, those who are ill or individuals with disabilities requiring care. Care aids should make care easier, relieve the back and also be particularly comfortable and helpful for people requiring care.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AIDS AND CARE AIDS
For care, you often need specific technical, medical and other aids such as a hospital bed, wheelchair, walker, bathlift or transfer aids. A distinction is made here between aids and care aids.
The main distinction between aids and care aids is who covers the costs: Health insurance or care insurance?
This is the most important difference:
CARE AIDS
Care insurance covers care aids. This includes technical aids such as hospital beds, positioning aids and emergency call systems. A level of care is the prerequisite for this. Care insurance covers the costs for technical aids, with a contribution from the insured party. You can apply for care aids through care insurance.
AIDS
Aids with an aid number are paid for by health insurance and must be prescribed by the doctor. Additional charges must be paid for each aid. A level of care is not required.
TRANSFER AID IN CARE
Transfer aids support you as the carer in moving the person requiring care. This is because an adult cannot be easily moved from one place to another with muscle strength alone. However, the transfer of bedridden people does not only require strength, it also requires skill and the right movements. This is because the person requiring care must not, under any circumstances, be injured or suffer more harm.
We have various transfer aids in the Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare Programme to protect not only the carer's back, but also the back of the person receiving care. Repositioning with a transfer aid feels more comfortable and less painful for the person requiring care. In addition, risk of injury is minimised for both parties. This means that the acquisition of these technical aids is twice as helpful when there is a need for care.
MOVING AND LIFTING AIDS
Moving and lifting aids are classic care aids that provide support with changing positions. They are primarily there to provide physical relief for the carer. They mean that the person requiring care is lifted with an aid such as a patient hoist, patient harness, sling or a special toilet sling, and transferred from their bed to a wheelchair, or from their wheelchair to a toilet, and back.
Safe lifting of people requiring care
Know-how is just as important as moving or lifting aids when it comes to lifting people requiring care safely. This is because the best transfer aid is useless if it is not used properly. As the caregiver, you want the person or people requiring care to be treated well and properly.
We therefore recommend getting good advice from a specialist, and even enrolling in a care course if necessary. These are offered to caregivers for free, even at home if desired.
WHAT ARE MOBILE PATIENT liftS?
A patient lift, also known as a person hoist, is used for moving and transferring those who are no longer able to do it themselves, as their mobility is very severely limited.
Patient lift are mobile, thanks to castors, and can therefore be used anywhere. Its job is to make transfers easier for carers and is used for home care, in care homes and in hospitals. It should provide relief for carers when working.
This is how mobile patient hoists work: People requiring care are lifted and moved with the aid of the electric or manual lifting mechanism of the guiding frame. Couches, fixed and flexible seats, harness systems or slings are used for supporting the patient or immobile person. At Drive DeVilbiss, we mainly specialise in mobile patient lifts, as the major advantage of these is that they can be moved and used anywhere. They do not have to be fixed to the floor, wall or ceiling. People requiring care can be moved from their bed to the bath and back using mobile patient hoists.
In addition to this, we offer a wide range of slings. Including those for specific purposes and adapted to suit individual needs, such as our toilet sling with head support. Transferring patients and people requiring care is a challenge, especially if they have a high body weight. Even overweight patients can be lifted and moved comfortably, safely and easily with our robust patient hoists.
Sling
A sling is used together with a patient lift and ensures that the transfer is safe and comfortable for the patient. This is because slings are made from soft, skin-friendly material while still providing a stable grip. They are available with and without headrests and are machine washable, even at high temperatures.
Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare offers sling solutions for every need. From universally usable slings to special slings for going to the toilet, with and without headrests, for pressure sore patients and patients in pain, or in different materials. You can cover any requirement with our wide range.
USER-FRIENDLY AND SAFE
Imagine that you are being moved through the room with a patient hoist while lying in a sling. How important would it be for you to feel safe and not be worried about being injured? It is therefore important for transfer aids that they are user-friendly and proven to be safe. The carer must be in control of the transfer situation at all times, and know exactly where and how a sling is positioned and exactly how a patient hoist functions. The person receiving care gains confidence and the entire transfer situation runs smoothly for all involved.
We therefore recommend dry runs. You just need to try a transfer without the patient or carer. Then you will know exactly how it works, and will feel safer during the first transfer.
Important: Also check if your transfer aid has a weight limit. Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare offers special care aids which are also suitable and safe for obese people requiring care.
TRANSFER AIDS HELP YOU TOO
Transfer aids are not only designed for people with very limited mobility, they are also designed for carers. This is because it is important for them to distribute force properly.
Caring is hard work and aids can massively alleviate the effort required. So: Look after yourself and your energy, and use aids. This is because if you become ill or physically overtax yourself as a result of care, this helps nobody. Use the broad spectrum of medical and technical aids for care. It's for your health too!
OVERBED TABLE OR SIDE TABLE FOR HOSPITAL BED
Overbed and side tables from Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare make everyday care easier. A large tabletop offers space for everything the patient or person requiring care needs. Quick, tool-free assembly, and flexible use thanks to castors, make our overbed tables the ideal helpers for home care.
An overbed table is the perfect accessory for a hospital bed, but also for a chair. As it can be used flexibly, is height-adjustable and is easy to move, acquiring one for elderly people or people with limited mobility is extremely helpful if they cannot sit at a normal table.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD, SAFE OVERBED TABLE?
- Continuous height adjustment
- Low-friction castors with brakes
- Flexible use
- Raised edges
ANTI-PRESSURE SORES – HELP TO PREVENT BEDSORES
Pressure sores, also known as bedsores, are local damage to the skin and underlying tissue. They are caused by prolonged pressure loads on specific areas of the body, and occur particularly in people with very limited mobility. This impairs blood circulation in the skin, resulting in chronic wounds. Pathogens that, in some circumstances, can have severe or even fatal consequences for the patients can enter through these wounds. A pressure sore causes permanent, sometimes very severe pain for the patients. Every movement is agony for the patients. Often, medication is the only solution to help with the pain.
Therefore one of the core tasks in care is preventing pressure sores under any circumstances. And we have some aids for you in our portfolio that are just right for combating bedsores.
ANTI-PRESSURE SORE MATTRESSES
Unfortunately, pressure sores only heal very slowly. Once a bedsore appears, it can take months to disappear.
It is therefore extremely important not to let a bedsore occur in the first place.
The most important treatment for pressure sores, and prophylaxis, is pressure relief.
This is achieved by frequently changing the position of the person requiring care, or using special anti-pressure sore mattresses.
There are two types of anti-pressure sore mattresses:
Anti-pressure sore soft positioning mattress:
These mattresses usually consist of two or three different layers. They prevent bedsores as they generate even pressure distribution with the aid of a variety of cutting techniques.
Anti-pressure sore mattresses with alternating pressure:
These mattresses consist of multiple air chambers that are automatically inflated and deflated alternately in a controlled manner, so that an area of the body is not exposed to the same pressure for too long.
ANTI-PRESSURE SEAT CUSHIONS
For elderly people and people whose mobility is severely limited, and who spend a lot of time sitting down, anti-pressure seat cushions help to reduce the risk of a pressure ulcer on the buttocks. These special cushions reduce contact pressure in areas that are at particular risk of pressure sores, such as the sitting bones or sacrum.
There are two types of anti-pressure sore seat cushions
1. Foam seat cushions with gel core:
They are used when there is a low to moderate risk of pressure sores.
2. Air chamber seat cushions:
They can be individually adjusted and used when there is a low to very high risk of pressure sores.
All cushions fit the most common standard, lightweight and multifunctional wheelchairs and recliner chairs.
TECHNICAL CARE AIDS ON PRESCRIPTION?
Technical care aids such as positioning and transfer aids, anti-pressure sore seat cushions and mattresses are available through health insurance or care insurance (with level of care) to all those requiring care in their standard version.
An additional charge of 10% must be paid per care aid – however, 25 Euro is the maximum. Larger technical care aids are also often loaned out, meaning that there is no additional charge
PREREQUISITES FOR A TECHNICAL CARE AID:
The following prerequisites must be fulfilled for care insurance to cover the costs for a technical care aid:
- A need for care must be established
- Care must be given in the home environment
- Care aids must make care easier
- Help to relieve the symptoms of the person requiring care
- Enable the person receiving care to live more independently
As with any other aid, the same applies for technical care aids: Talk to your doctor and ask your local healthcare supplier which care aid can best help you and the person receiving care in the current situation.
