3 Reasons to Invest in Rise & Recline Chairs

Whether you call them riser recliners, lift and reclines, or rise and recline chairs, they’re a staple item in any hospice or care home. Having an ordinary tub or high back chair simply doesn’t cut it in patients’ rooms. Palliative care environments work hard to deliver quality care, and the equipment should reflect that. So we’ve thought of 3 reasons why all hospices, care homes, and multi-user environments should invest in rise and recline chairs.

Check out our case study of Bolton Hospice Furniture Refurb where we supplied a variety of furniture including 4 No. Arene Rise and Recline chairs

1/ Reduce Chances of Falls and Injury

Rise and recline chairs offer much more than an average chair. The resident/patient might need extra support when getting up and sitting down in a standard chair; as you can imagine, this can also pose a bit of risk for those who have reduced leg strength and cannot push themselves up from the chair at all.

Rise and recline chairs can help to keep the user safe and stable as they move to lift them up to a standing position. Riser recliners like the Arene have been specifically designed for hospices and environments where high-quality care is of the utmost importance. Both the rise and recline movements are electrically powered to provide a smooth and safe movement for the user. This helps to reduce the chance of falls or injuries that could occur, whilst providing peace of mind and a comfortable rising and reclining motion for the user.

What’s more, the Arene Mk II can be fitted with a sensor mat in the seat itself. This can alert staff when the individual has stood up from the chair, which will help to minimise falls and injuries.

2/ Improved Postural Control

Rise and recline chair also offer great postural control and support, which is a necessity in any hospice. Understandably, hospice and hospital patients may be sat for long periods of time in the same chair, and this makes it much easier to lose a healthy posture because of slumping and slouching.

Many rise and recliner chairs are now equipped with various cushion layouts and functions that will help with a wide variety of postural issues. Additional cushions and backrest options usually help to manage the person’s posture over a long period of time, ensuring that they are fully-supported. We usually find that the lateral backrest offers the most support in our Arene rise and recline chairs. With cushions positioned down either side of the backrest, this will help to prevent the individual from slumping to one side. Lateral backrests are a great tool when maintaining a healthy midline, although other positioning cushions can be used to help with this.

The tilt-in-space function is exceptionally useful when trying to uphold the user’s posture. Some rise and recline chairs will offer this function because it has a variety of benefits to those who are sat down for a long time. Simply by tilting the individual backwards, their spine will relax and should return to a midline position.

3/ Pressure Care

A hot topic of the healthcare world at the moment, pressure injuries are particularly costly to any care environment, and they significantly reduce the person’s quality of life. Understandably, those who are sat for many hours every day are much more susceptible to pressure injuries, and therefore it is particularly important to invest in rise and recline chairs that have built-in pressure relief and redistribution features.

Remarkably, tilt-in-space is also excellent for helping to tackle pressure issues. When an individual is sat in a normal upright position, about 75% of their weight is exerted through their buttocks and posterior, and only 4% of their weight is exerted through the back. As you can imagine, this puts the buttocks at a much higher risk of pressure ulcers. By using the tilt-in-space function on a riser recliner, you can actually redistribute the user’s weight so less stress is put on their posterior. This will spread the person’s weight more equally through the back, and therefore reduce the chances of them developing a pressure ulcer.

You can also take it one step further with most riser recliner chairs by including built-in pressure relief. This is usually included in the seat cushion and backrest, and uses the latest pressure care technology and materials to spread the individual’s weight across a wider surface area. Good quality rise and recline chairs can be specified to include gel cushions that will redistribute the user’s weight whilst maintaining comfort and postural support.

Summary

There are so many other reasons to invest in good rise and recline chairs, but these are our top 3. Riser recliners truly are essential in any healthcare environment, and we highly recommend that you take a look at some of the latest models to find exactly what you’re looking for. Our Arene Mk II is proving very popular at the moment, but of course, the choice is yours to make. Just make sure you look out for these 3 things in any rise and recline chair.