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Bed equipment guide


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Before you Buy bed equipment, consider the advice below:

  • Bed height: your bed should be high enough to stand easily from the bed and low enough to get legs on and off the bed
  • A soft mattress may be comfortable but will make moving in the bed more difficult
  • Hand blocks are designed to help you move in bed. They have an easy grip handle to reduce strain on joints in hand and wrist and a flat base to spread weight when pushing on a soft surface
  • The bed ladder is fixed to the end of the bed and you can use it to pull up into a seated position if you have upper body strength
  • Bed grab rails fit under the mattress or are clamped to the side of the bed, just below pillow level, to provide a firm rail to hold when getting in or out of bed and to assist when rolling in bed
  • Lifting poles have a base platform that fits under your bed and a rail and hand loop that hangs over the pillow end of the bed. The user pulls up on the rail to lift your upper body for repositioning
  • A mattress elevator or pillow lift is a powered device to sit you up in bed. The elevator fits under the mattress and the pillow lift on top of the mattress. Both are mains powered and cost about £300
  • The leg lifter strap is a rigid canvas hand held loop to help lift your legs into bed. You need good balance and upper body strength to use. There is also a range of powered leg lifters that fix to the side of the bed with prices from £500
  • Slide sheets can be used to assist with transfers in to bed and to make turning in bed easier
  • Bed safety rails may help to prevent falls from bed. A lower bed or a bed alarm may also be effective
  • Profiling beds: read the ‘Before You Buy’ a Profiling Bed guide
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