Recliners in the Home and Safety
The following information is a list of considerations for using recliners in the home. This article will outline why, when and how you organise your home to suit the user and the recliners in the home. The Ambassador chair is quite large in size to accomodate customer needs and it’s therefore important to consider where in the home to place a recliner in the home.
1. The user’s functional capabilities:
- What the user is able to do on their own and what they require assistance for?
- Why do they need the recliner in the home in first place?
- Is the user completely immobile?
- Can the user perform transfers with assist?
- Will the user be walking to and from the recliner?
- Will a caregiver have to fully assist the user to and from the recliner to the rest of the home?
- The user’s current level of mobility will greatly determine where the recliner should be placed.
- And then then see an Ambassador recliner in motion to ascertain the space you will require.
2.The user’s additional equipment needs:
Use of additional equipment, such as walkers, wheelchairs, respiratory-related equipment, IVs and electric leg compressors. And it’s also important to consider medical equipment to be plugged in.
3 Safety and emergency access:
Placement of a recliner in the home cannot impede the safety of the user and others. Such as avoiding the placement that it could block access to a door. And it’s also important to take the proper precautions to prevent the user from slipping and falling (i.e. non-slip socks, rubber matting, etc).
Place the recliner in the home where the user has easy access to others. while also making sure that caregivers provide proper routes of communication for the user in the event of an emergency (fall alarms, cellphones, Life Alert systems, etc.)
4. Immediate space around the chair itself:
Find a spot in the home where the recliner can be fully extended and reclined without hitting walls or other furniture.
5 Toiletry access:
Consider where the recliner should be placed in relation to the location of the bathroom. And therefore placing the recliner where trips to the bathroom can be made shorter regarding overall distance.
6 Type of home and size:
We cannot assume that recliners are going to be placed in a standard home, some users live in apartments, mobile homes or assisted living. Therefore caregivers and family members can only do the best they can depending on the size of the living space. Alternatively you can work with a local occupational therapist to assist in prescribing a recliner in the home.
7 Access to activities of choice:
Avoid placing the recliner in corners of the home where the user has little access or entertainment.
In addition to the criteria listed above, the crucial piece to putting an Ambassador recliner in your home is safety first for users and caregivers.
