My dad had a massive stroke last year and after 4 months in hospital he has just moved into a nursing home. Due to the stroke he has severe cognitive impairment and has left side neglect. He cannot move his left arm, walk or bear weight.
He firmly believes he can walk and frequently tries to get out of bed and/ or his chair (by shuffling to the edge and pushing on the arm). This was well managed in hospital as he had bed guards and a lap belt in his wheel chair - he did not fall once. The nursing home he has moved to are saying that they cannot provide bed guards or lap belts at all. They lower his bed and provide crash mats either side instead and an anti-slip mat on his chair. In the 48 hours he has been there he has fallen out of his chair once and has been found off his crash mats 3 times in the middle of the night. I understand that there are risks associated with bed rails/ lap belts etc but cannot see that these risks are greater than him constantly falling.
It is early days at the care home and I am hoping we can work on strategies etc but having bed rails and a lap belt would so very much improve his quality of life and reduce the risk of broken bones and serious injury. At the moment he is basically living on a lowered bed on the floor which is awful for his dignity, dreadful for visitors, means he cannot access normal meals at a table, attend activities or participate in the wider life of the home at all. Has anyone any experience of this?? Is this common?
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Elderly parents
Falls and care homes - any experience?
22 replies
woodstack · 08/02/2019 15:59
OP posts:
wigglypiggly ·
08/02/2019 19:55
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