4 ways to prevent falls by using recliner chairs

It may be you’re looking at ways to improve your safety and lower your risk of falls at home. Or you may work in a care home and be concerned about the number of falls that involve chairs. You’re doing the right thing in thinking about how you can avoid harm! And, in the spirit of full disclosure, we see too many falls from a chair that could have been prevented. So, in this guide, we’ll show you 4 effective ways we commonly use to help customers prevent falls by using recliner chairs.

1. Use the rise function

If you have restricted mobility and standing up from a chair is difficult, perhaps due to arthritic joints, you’re likely to be at increased risk of falls during the transfer to and from a sitting position. This is where a rise and recline chair can protect you from falls and injury, by lifting you from a seated to standing position. This includes where you’re using a walking frame: simply leave your walker in front of the riser recliner and use the lift function to be raised to the handle height of your frame.  

2. Use tilt-in-space function

Also at higher risk of falls are people who experience involuntary movements, for example, a person with Parkinson’s disease, or who have difficulty maintaining an upright position, perhaps due to a stroke. A tilt-in-space recliner chair can reduce this risk of falling or slipping out of a chair, by shifting your centre of gravity when seated.

Tilt in space riser recliner chairs: Definition, suitability and benefits

3. Get the right size chair

This may not seem obvious at first, so let’s use some examples. Perhaps the most important seat dimension for falls prevention is seat height. That’s because you must make sure your feet maintain contact with the floor when you stand up and sit down. Likewise, if a chair is too wide or not deep enough for you, you’re at much higher risk of slipping out of your chair. This is why having the right size chair, a made-to-measure recliner chair if needed, is so important in falls prevention.

Standard vs made to measure riser recliner chairs: which is best for me?

What is a made to measure riser recliner chair? What to expect, options & limitations

4. Use positioning belts (if appropriate)

While positioning belts or harnesses must only be used after a comprehensive risk assessment, including consideration of posture and capacity to consent, they can be a very effective way to prevent falls from a chair. Used carefully and appropriately, they should not be viewed as a restraint but an important safety measure.

For example, a person who experiences involuntary movements, or has pelvic instability can be supported with positioning aids to reduce the risk of injury from sliding down or out of a chair. Likewise in the case of cognitive impairment, when a person may be at risk of injury from falls through unsupervised mobilising.

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