Where relevant, changing the mindset from providing a person to providing equipment that does not need Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) funding could radically reduce the number of people waiting for care support. It could cut the cost of care.
With the continuing lack of staff, people in need are left struggling to live daily life with any degree of quality.
As importantly, the staff themselves are exposed to greater risk as their workload increases.
Unpaid carers too are being put at risk by having to manage without support.
By using the right equipment- where relevant- to reduce the reliance on carers-paid and unpaid- mean that clients would be more independent and have a better quality of life.
Strain would also be reduced on the care workforce, enabling them to deliver better quality of care for those instances where kit is not appropriate.
Using equipment would reduce the risk of unpaid carers injuring themselves lifting, moving, handling. These actions put further strain on the paid care workforce who have to step into the breach.
And it needs to be the right equipment- that achieves the end purpose for the client, safely, and that can be expediated without delay.
Says Peter Wingrave, AAT Director:
“There is a mindset within social care that if someone is struggling with stairs, then you put in a stairlift (or a through-floor lift). Yet that requires DFG funding, which takes months, years to fulfil.
"Inbetweentimes, the client is left with a compromised living space and little or no privacy if a bed has been moved downstairs- assuming that can be done- or their access to areas of their home- bedroom, WC etc- is wholly dependant on the availability of a carer- paid or unpaid- to help. It also puts that care giver at risk.
"“Most local authority equipment stores have at least one stairclimber, that can be delivered to the client, and their caregivers trained on its safe operation, within days.
"Thus the risk to all parties is minimised, fast and cost-effectively. The need to provide paid care is reduced/eliminated.
"As an added bonus, when that client no longer needs it, the stairclimber can be re-prescribed (recycled) to another, achieving best value and best use of resources from every relevant perspective.”
Our mobility stairclimber is battery-powered devices that help people with impairments safely and comfortably navigate stairs with the support of a carer.
Unlike alternative equipment that is fixed to the structure of the home, our stairclimber is portable. So, when no longer needed by the original recipient, someone else can use it.
We offer a free, no obligation assessment service to determine the relevance of its kit for each potential client, including their care-giver and staircase.
We have an unrivalled safety record for its equipment, stretching back over 20 years, with thousands in regular use up and down the country.
Full details are available on our website www.aatgb.com/sella.
The transformation is the outcome of the approach adopted by Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust Occupational Therapist Andrea Williams, who turned to us.
Now, for the first time in two years, Sarah can not just get out of her bedroom, but outside too!
Andrea realised an S-Max Sella stairclimber could be the solution to stopping Sarah being bed bound.
It would give Sarah the means to safely navigate the staircase with its two turns in the Grade II listed two-storey house.
What's more, it could get her outside too!
When we demonstrated S-Max Sella and how it would work in their home, Sarah and her husband James asked Andrea to prescribe it for them.
Husband James, operates and controls the Sella, after training from us.
He uses the portable, battery-powered Sella to safely transfer Sarah up and down the stairs and on to whichever room she wants to go.
It even steps across the raised threshold of the door to outside and the garden!
“Even getting from her bed to a reclining chair tires Sarah out,” explains James. “With the stairclimber, we only have one transfer.
"One of Sarah’s goals was to spend time outside. She was blown away with the stairclimber: it was the first time in almost two years she had been downstairs, let alone out into the garden!
"The stairclimber’s so versatile, it easily dealt with the lip on the door to the patio.”
Adds Andrea, “Being listed meant it would be difficult to adapt the house to accommodate a stairlift or through-floor lift.
"The effort of transferring from bed to wheelchair to stairlift then off the stairlift would exhaust Sarah.
"A stairlift may have been able to get her up and downstairs, but she’d still be confined to the house.
"I am so pleased it’s made such a difference to them both.”
We are the UK’s leading supplier of stairclimbers, with the Sella being the #1 seller.
Strong yet lightweight and completely portable, Sella features a perfect balance point and PowerStep feature which means the smallest carer can easily operate and control the unit. They can even pause or stop en-route if needed.
When not in use, it folds compactly away.
There's no need for installation, home adaptation nor impingement on the stairway or part of the home for other members of the household
Our range of accessories enable the Sella to accommodate every passenger’s safety and postural support: options address seating and harnessing requirements from head to toe.
More details of AAT’s Sella and range of accessories, plus the ability to book a free, no obligation assessment, can be found here: https://www.aatgb.com/s-max-sella/.
We don’t want the limitation being a permanent reminder, nor the disruption to how we use our homes caused by installation of fixtures such as stairlifts, through-floor lifts.
If you live in a flat, such options aren’t available, so you face becoming housebound.
There is a further consideration- such “solutions” only solve the problem at home- what about when we want to go beyond the front door?
The portable S-Max stairclimber could be the answer. Cost comparable to a stairlift, our S-Max does so much more.
Our S-Max can either be attached to a wheelchair- thus avoiding the risk of a transfer from wheelchair to stairlift and back.
Or it can include an integral seat (the S-Max Sella).
S-Max only requires a mobile person to operate it to transfer the person with reduced mobility or balance up and down stairs or steps, at whatever pace both feel comfortable.
Battery-powered, the S-Max can perform 300 steps from each charge.
Our S-Max is not fixed to the fabric of the home in any way. It folds away when not in use, leaving the stairs unrestricted for other members of the household or occupiers of the block of flats.
It is lightweight, enabling even a petite person to effortlessly move someone up to 135kg (21 st). It is light enough to pop in the car boot to address varying levels away from home.
We offer comprehensive support for prospective buyers.
Our team of assessment managers visit you at home, free of charge and without obligation.
They will advise on the suitability of the equipment for you, depending on needs and the design of your staircase.
A range of accessories mean it can be adapted to individual requirements, initially and as support and comfort requirements change with time.
Once the S-Max is delivered- within three working days of receipt of order- we will revisit to set the machine up to your exact requirements and train the care giver in its safe operation.
Since being founded 20 years ago, we've supplied thousands of stairclimbers to people with mobility issues throughout the UK and achieved an unrivalled in excellence safety record.
Click the link to find out more and book your free no obligation assessment: https://www.aatgb.com/s-max/.
The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) claims in its latest Autumn Survey(1) that we need to shift to a preventative model of care and increase investment in recovery services to avoid a continuing cycle of crisis in winter.
Leading mobility supplier AAT says a change in approach to how existing availability of equipment is used could make inroads in the problem immediately.
Wider acknowledgement of the role and potential impact that non-fixed equipment such as stairclimbers and “people picker uppers” could have a significant impact on reducing pressure on social care and the NHS by managing the risk to older and disabled people.
Requiring no installation, the aids can be issued within days from Equipment Stores or AAT direct to make it safe for the older or disabled person to remain at home.
When the recipient no longer needs it, the kit can be re-issued/re-allocated/recycled to someone else.
AAT’s S-Max stairclimber can transform a wheelchair into a stairclimbing wheelchair, or with its integral seat (S-Max Sella), make stairway/step access safe for an older person with reduced mobility.
S-Max does not require installation. It does not obstruct the staircase/steps for other members of the household.
And it eliminates the need for a potentially dangerous transfer at the top of the stairs or steps. When no longer needed by the initial recipient, it can be re-allocated to someone else.
AAT’s range of people picker upper equipment safely restores an uninjured fallen person to a safe height to sit or stand without the delay of waiting for non-emergency services to respond.
Again, if employed at an individual’s home, when no longer needed it can be re-allocated- recycled- to someone else in need.
“The social care convention when someone’s mobility is reduced is to look at ramps, stairlifts- permanent, fixed solutions that take time- and money. More often than not, they also only benefit the initial recipient,” says Peter Wingrave, AAT Director.
“When funds and specialist staff are under pressure, surely it makes sense to look at options that deliver the necessary, appropriate risk management that offer better value and do not require social care staff input?”
He adds, “Social care and housing are inextricably linked. The reality is that 80% of the homes we will be occupying in 2050 already exist(2). We need fast solutions to help make our existing housing safer and more accessible so people can continue to live independently at home. Those solutions are to hand, available, already in use. It is only because they are not ‘mainstream’ that they are not considered ways to ease the pressure on adult social care- pressure that is only going to get worse with our ageing society.”
Find out more about AAT’s fall prevention and fall recovery options at www.aatgb.com.
ENDS
References:
For teenager George, bath-time has always been compromised.
His quadriplegic #Cerebralpalsy has meant he was always in a sling to give him the support necessary- until now!
Our Aqua Liberty https://www.aatgb.com/aqua-liberty/ has changed all that.
It is the first effective answer George’s parents have found, to enable him to relax and soak without them intervening.
Designed and developed in the UK in partnership with Occupational Therapists, Aqua Liberty is the only bath support system that fits any user, any bath.
Fitted with any of our range of infinitely-adjustable waterproof yet breathable posture support cushions, the Aqua Liberty system perfectly holds the bather safely in the water without care assistance.
The cushion- in George’s case the Comfortable Plus trunk/pelvis combo- is moulded to precisely and correctly support without pressure.
The design of the Aqua Liberty system means it is quick and easy to remove, making the bath available for use by other members of the family.
This also eliminates any of the delay, cost and disruption of installing specialist baths and bathing equipment.
When not in use in the bath, the base can be rolled up and stowed away; other family members can still enjoy a relain bath.
The cushions can be removed and used wherever else sitting support is required- in a chair/ wheelchair, in the car- or other activities such as flying, beach buggy-ing or canoeing!
“We used to have a similar product to this but it used a beaded system and therefore didn’t mould very well to George’s body shape. Plus it recently broke and the beads went everywhere! Think polystyrene balls all over the wet room floor: I’m still finding them now!
“Until we tried Aqua Liberty, we had to keep George’s sling on the in the bath as he is not able to sit up in the bath without support.
"He was extremely relaxed and comfortable whilst seated in the Aqua Liberty. He absolutely loves the bath so would make good use of this piece of equipment.”
mum Karen Merry
We are so confident of the value Aqua Liberty brings, we are offering free assessment and free trail of the system. Book yours by telephoning 01978 821875, emailing sales@aatgb.com, or online: https://www.aatgb.com/aqua-liberty/
The health and wellbeing of a stroke victim, and her family, has been transformed by an unusual prescription.
The Kaviraj family live in East London, in a block of flats with no lift.
When Mrs Kaviraj suffered a stroke five years ago, she was left disabled and unable to walk.
As a result, she could not get out and was confined to the home. Her main carers- her elderly husband and daughter- were becoming increasingly worried about her mental health & wellbeing, which in turn affected their health.
Mrs Kaviraj’s lead physiotherapist knew of AAT and its range of stairclimbers and suggested one may benefit the family. An S-Max stairclimber https://www.aatgb.com/s-max/ was funded and provided via the local authority.
Five years on, the machine- in essence adding climbing motion to a wheelchair- is still in almost daily use. It safely and reliably transfers Mrs Kaviraj up and down the stairs and out, having been serviced each year to maintain its performance.
“The Stairclimber has been such an asset to us as a family.
"This piece of equipment has allowed my mum to have a better quality of life, and helped her wellbeing. But it has also helped with the wellbeing of us, her carers, too. it means we all feel there is a real sense of freedom.
“You can't put a price on this sort of liberation. This will definitely help anyone who values wellbeing and freedom.
“As for the maintenance - AAT is brilliant. We've had the equipment for some time, and it really is maintained very well. You never feel as though you're a burden and have always been met with considerate staff and a level of expertise that is outstanding. Believe me, this makes a difference when you're juggling lots.” Chandrika Kaviraj
Class 1 medical device classified, the battery-powered stairclimber smoothly kinetically moves up and down stairs, safely transferring its passenger from one level to another, executing 300 steps from one battery charge. Options include a frame fitted to a wheelchair, or a stand-alone uniot complete with seat. The rate of movement is completely controlled by the person operating it, who received full training from AAT as part of the assessment and provision process. The stairclimber’s high balance point, lightness of wright and manoeuvrability mean it requires little effort to control and steer. When not in use, the stairclimber can be folded away optimising living space.
AAT has a comprehensive range of options which include wheeled, tracked, power packs, stairclimbers that attach to a wheelchair or incorporate an integral seat, and that can accommodate tight and/or turning staircases.
AAT offers free, no obligation assessment (privately or in conjunction with the healthcare professional) so users and operators can be sure the machine will be appropriate for them. It also fully trains the operator to ensure optimal safety. To date, with a 15-year history and more than 3000 stairclimbers in use across the country, the equipment has a 100% safety record.
Find out more and book you free, no obligation assessment here: http://www.aatgb.com/stairclimbers.
