Home Care & Safe Patient Handling

There are risks involved in moving patients in the home when an assistive device is not used.  An overexerted caregiver could accidentally injure themselves or harm the patient.  The patient may be injury by being dropped, jarred or not properly handled during transfers that are unassisted by a device.

Traditional floor-based lifts typically require multiple caregivers for transfers in the home.  They have a higher risk of tipping and can be difficult to move and adjust due to floor coverings or furniture within the room.  Heavier and larger patients can make these types of lift even more difficult for caregivers to move and adjust.

Anyone who lifts and moves patients are at a high risk for back injury and other musculoskeletal disorders.  Injuries are due in a large part to the overexertion associated with lifting, transferring and repositioning patients manually.  Safe Patient Handling has been associated with fewer injuries and decreasing severity of injuries.

Studies have shown that patients feel more comfortable and secure when ua mechanical transfer device is used.  It has been found that using mechanical devices to transfer patients takes fewer personnel and less time than manual transfers.

Patients and family caregivers may be unwilling or unable to accept changes in the home.  They may fear that an assistive device will be unsafe or uncomfortable.   In reality, assistive devices actually increase patient safety and comfort while enhancing the patient’s sense of dignity.  Assistive devices also protect caregivers from injury while increasing their efficiency.

The Titan 500 is a freestanding overhead patient lift designed for the home and the family caregiver.  It allows a single caregiver, often a family member, to safely transfer a loved one in the home without injury.

Proudly Made in the USA, the Titan 500 is a complete lift system that includes a free sling and free shipping.  It does not attach to the structure of the home and can follow the patient as they move through the continuum of care.  It is simple and safe to use and features a rechargeable electric lift motor.

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6 Things Can You Do to Protect Disability Rights Today

By Alice Wong

This article originally appeared in Teen Vogue.  (https://www.teenvogue.com/story/disability-rights-how-to-help)

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

In this op-ed, the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, Alice Wong, explains the danger of H.R. 620 and how you can help protect disability rights.

What does it mean to be an activist? I became an accidental activist because this world was never built for me. For me, as a disabled woman of color with a progressive neuromuscular disability, every breath is an act of resistance and activism.

I graduated from high school two years after the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) passed in 1990. It took me a long time understand the influence of this law on my sense of identity and pride as a disabled person. I no longer had to ask “nicely” for access or put up with discrimination. I had a law that represented my lived experience and my community. I could refer to the ADA and say that disability rights are civil and human rights.

Tomorrow, a bill will go for a vote in the House that will weaken the ADA and make it harder for disabled people to fully enjoy the world with their friends and family. The bill is called H.R. 620, the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017.

For more than 27 years, businesses and public entities have been required to provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. The ADA changed the opportunities disabled people have in every aspect of life.

Read the rest of the article here:  https://www.teenvogue.com/story/disability-rights-how-to-help