Almost every home has stairs, whether to gain access if a flat, or to move around the home if a house.
For the patient to be able to continue with their daily life, they need intervention. Delay waiting for modification causes bed-blocking.
Where appropriate, Occupational Therapists have an easy intervention available for prescription- an S-Max stairclimbing wheelchair.
The battery-operated kinematic Class 1 Medical Device can either fit to a wheelchair or include an integral seat (the S-Max Sella), to safely transfer the injured person up and down steps and stairs. The person overcomes the barrier of wheelchair stair access.
There is no installation, fixing to walls, floors: all that is required is an hour or so’s training, provided by AAT.
Lightweight and mobile, the S-Max mobility stairclimber can be used by even the most petite operator. It folds away when not in use.
With the addition of a Universal Back accessory, any additional thorasic or pelvic support required can be achieved- whether for the initial recipient or future beneficiaries.
Most local authorities have the equipment already, so it is just a case of re-issuing from stores.
If one is not to hand, AAT’s assessment managers can visit the patient within days. A stairclimber delivered from stock within 3 days of receipt of order.
That purchase can then be used to support the specific person, then taken into stores and re-issued to others.
In this way, Occupational Therapists achieve a person-centred solution.
They manage risk of the injured person falling on the stairs.
Their client's environment and ability to perform routine occupations is also safely addressed.
Thus, Royal College of Occupational Therapists’ guidance on falls management(3) is followed.
And the person is discharged from hospital, releasing the bed.
“Prescribing a stairclimber is a best-value way to achieve a broad, holistic answer to a client’s ability to be discharged faster from hospital, and live home life better, with less disruption to routine,” explains Peter Wingrave, AAT Director.
“It is the most efficient way to overcome the issue of navigating stairs, removing all the danger of someone trying to go up or down on crutches (an accident waiting to happen), the indignity of bottom-shuffling, or them being confined to one level with all the disruption to them and the rest of the household in moving beds downstairs, commodes etc. With its re-issue capability, one stairclimber can help numerous people.”
Ful details of the S-Max, including videos on it in action, and an assessment booking form, can be found on AAT’s website: https://www.aatgb.com/s-max/.
references:
(1)https://www.jla.nihr.ac.uk/priority-setting-partnerships/broken-bones-in-older-people#:~:text=priorities%20Key%20documents-,About%20this%20PSP,as%20the%20population%20gets%20older.
(2)https://www.jla.nihr.ac.uk/priority-setting-partnerships/broken-bones-in-older-people/
(3)https://www.rcot.co.uk/node/396
