My 91-yr-old mother who had been in Memory Care for only 2 months, fell on May 11 and broke her hip. She had the surgery to repair it and was in the hospital for 12 days and in skilled-nursing rehab for 3 weeks. She is not recovering from the left hip break as easily as she did when she broke the right one three years ago. I know...she is older and weaker and three years deeper into her dementia. She may not walk again but we are having home health physical therapy visit her at Memory Care.
When I took her back to her Memory Care facility, she was wheeled over to the TV area where most of the residents were at that time and I went to her room to unpack her things. When I next saw her, she was slouched down almost completely flat and sliding out of her wheelchair! This is the wheelchair that Medicare provided when she left Rehab. When I tried to reposition Mom, the caregivers came over and lifted her to an upright seated position.
I went home and, next thing I knew, I was getting a call from the Memory Care facility. You guessed it. Mom had slid out of her chair on to the floor landing on her butt. No caregiver witnessed it and no telling how long she had been on the floor when a caregiver finally noticed her!
Medicare (and rehab facility) provided her with a crappy cushion that is slick vinyl on the top for ease of cleaning, but makes it hard for Mom to sit up straight. She also broke her pelvis in this last fall which makes it even more uncomfortable for her to sit.
Does anybody have a recommendation for a cushion that would prevent Mom from sliding out of the chair? If anyone has a loved one that had this same problem, what did you do to fix it?
there are also wedges that can be used to prop her to one side or the other if she tends to lean.
Restraints can not be used in a facility so tilting the chair and wedges are the best option. Sometimes a chair alarm works. Attached tot he back of the blouse and the chair if the connection is broken an alarm will sound. Some facilities allow alarms, others don't
My Husband was on Hospice and they provided a high backed wheelchair as well as later a Broda Chair that allows for more easy positioning of the sides and arms of the chair. It almost looks like an old fashioned Wingback Chair. So the "wings" help prevent a person from sliding and slouching.
This did not actually address the cushion part of your question....
I would ask the PT when they come to evaluate her for the type of cushion she should have or if possibly a different type of chair will help.
Her custom chair is a tilt n space so it can always have a little tilt so she does not slide out. Our in home OT also suggested those non slip rug mats that you can cut and place under the cushion to help the cushion stay in place better to not slip.
Here’s a good article regarding two types of chairs that could help.
Hope your Mom is doing ok now.
https://seniorsflourish.com/broda-vs-geri-chair/
I did everything then, over 15 years ago, entirely online/by phone. The phone contact was the bestI’ve ever had FOR ANY PURCHASE.
They may have changed staff since then, but hopefully not the service.
Give it a try.
Also, Medicare usually will only cover a wheelchair and/or cushion every five years.
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