Bed adaptation to give respite to client and carer
(posted by Susan Iwanek)
The Cornwall panel have a complex case on which they would very much welcome advice and input from Remap members.
A physiotherapist who is also a member of the panel has referred to them a severely disabled client whose carers are unable to access respite services because of the prohibitive cost of providing a special bespoke bed in the respite home. He has a suitable bed in his home, but it cost £7000 and NHS services, who provided it, will not duplicate provision. The respite home owner, with whom the client has been spending 7 nights per month, is unable to meet this cost. They have looked at adapting other beds and explored alternative sleeping options, but have not found a suitable alternative.
The problem arises because of a change in his needs – the respite home had a standard bed with a special inflatable cot bumper and this was sufficient, but he has outgrown it. The inflatable cot sides which used to manage his behaviour are now no longer appropriate or robust enough. This means there is no respite option for the client, and this is very hard on his carers and on him. He has been benefiting from respite since he was a child.
The client’s bed at home is like a large cot with high sides. He can spend hours on his knees in his cot throwing himself in all directions. The Cornwall panel wants to make him a bed, or a structure which fits over a standard bed, in order to overcome this problem and ensure that he is able to safely stay overnight at the respite home. Whatever they make has to be removable.
It also needs to allow access for carers , so needs sides which can be lowered to allow for washing/dressing, whilst at the same time not creating a barrier to care staff, preventing them from getting close and leaning over) .
If any member has tackled a similar job or has ideas about what could be done, please enter your contribution below, or email the Cornwall chairman Jonathan Barnett on jonathan.barnett@kxbridge.co.uk.
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Would an alternative type of bumper be suitable, such as the Orthodoc Cocoon, which would be much cheaper for the respite home to purchase. It could be perhaps made to measure to fit a higher framework that Remap could make for a standard bed
This may be a radical thought and maybe it has been considered…..although costly, couldn’t his home bed be taken to and from respite care via a removal company when required?
The same sort of solution as that suggested by Peter Harris occurred to me, thinking along the lines of a trampoline safety net. It would be freestanding with padded corner posts and with framing either at mattress level and or overhead (as Peter’s 4-poster idea). Netting does seem to offer a number of advantages over anything either rigid or inflatable. Best of luck with the work.
How about a rigid frame over the bed (in the style of a four-poster bed, on which is fixed netting of a suitable strength (tennis net comes to mind)? The netting at the front would be fixed to a wooden strip to simplify the fastening/unfastening.
This is probably an obvious thought, but can we adapt anything from modern children’s Soft Play equipment. This might allow you to make a padded frame; they may have all sorts of hinged or sliding sections that are built to be robust. Companies that make Soft Play would be kitted up to adapt existing Soft Play equipment to meet the needs.
I have an assignment which very similar to the above ,I hope to complete the assemble tomorrow let me have your email address and I can send photographs of what I have made for a child suffering from “Williams Syndrome” .
Ron Aston REMAP Gloucester