Care Professional Buyers Guide
Care Professionals: whether you are an OT (occupational therapist), physio, nurse, care manager or other health professional, this section provides information about products primarily destined for care homes, hospitals, hospices, residential homes, surgeries and clinics, and other care environments.
The links below will take you straight to the relevant product sections:
Access (DDA)
Access Mobility. This section looks at means of improving access to your services for people with impaired mobility. Click to go straight to more on: Finding your business Entrance / [...]
Make your premises COVID Secure Independent Living has put together top tips on making the workplace “COVID Secure”, following guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Businesses are trying [...]
Adaptive Computer Equipment
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Computers and the internet have opened a new window on the world for many of us, making it much easier to stay in touch with people, make new connections, shop, [...]
Office Ergonomics
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Health and safety at work is a huge topic – this section aims to provide some useful links to further reading and advice, as well as commonsense suggestions about improving [...]
Access: Reduced Dexterity
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Arthritis is a very common condition, which affects many older people in particular. One effect is a reduction in dexterity, which can make it very much more difficult to cope [...]
Access: Learning Disabilities
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The provisions of the Equality Act 2010 apply equally to the rights of people with learning disabilities and all recognised mental illnesses. In practice, making sure that services are available [...]
Access: Sensory Impairment
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This section looks at means of improving access to your services for people with sensory impairment (either vision or hearing). Click to go straight to more on: Blind and visually [...]
Access audits show the way There is a great deal of information – and misinformation – concerning disabled access. Not surprisingly, for a complex subject area, the law has spawned [...]
Bariatric
This section looks at equipment designed for safe bariatric transfers, making it easier for carers to move the heaviest individuals without risking injury either to themselves or to the client. [...]
Whether lying down or sitting, the heaviest users need heavy-duty, or bariatric, beds and chairs, which are sturdy enough to support them safely, and designed to be as comfortable as [...]
It has become easier to buy plus-size or bariatric clothing in recent years. Some retail outlets and more online suppliers now offer clothing up to a women’s size 30 or [...]
Bariatric, a professional synonym for obese To many people, ‘bariatrics’ is an unfamiliar term. What it describes – the branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention and treatment [...]
Bariatric Mobility Aids
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Bariatric Mobility Aids Walking aids Wheelchairs Mobility scooters Managing stairs Walking Frames & Rollators Extra wide walking frames are available in different heights, to accommodate bariatric users from short to [...]
Bariatric Bathroom
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Bariatric bathroom equipment Sturdy products that have been specially constructed to make it safer for the heaviest individuals to use the bathroom with confidence and security. Click the links to [...]
What Is Obesity
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Defining obesity What is obesity? It is generally considered to begin at a weight relative to height that is 20 to 30% above desirable weight. Desirable weight being the mid-point [...]
Care Bathroom
This section is concerned with assisted bathing products, designed particularly to meet the needs of the most dependent patients. Click the links below for more information on different products for [...]
Underwear options to manage incontinence include washable and disposable pants, as well as pants with a pouch to hold a disposable or washable pad. There are also adult diapers or [...]
This section is concerned with accessible and assisted showering for the residential care and nursing environments. Click the links below to go straight to more information on: Accessible shower enclosures [...]
Assisted toileting products facilitate independence and privacy in the toilet, and can assist with toileting where the individual is unable to manage unaided. Click the links below to go straight [...]
Bathroom Pressure Care
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Pressure damage currently costs the health service more than heart disease. Most of it is preventable with the right pressure management regime, and bathroom pressure care should form part of [...]
Laundry & Sluice Room
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A well-planned and properly equipped sluice room is a cornerstone of hygiene and freedom from cross infections. The sluice room is where used disposables such as incontinence pads and bed [...]
Externally worn protection A penis pouch or condom catheter can be used by men suffering from incontinence following treatment for prostate cancer, for example. This is a sheath that is [...]
Bariatric Bathroom
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Bariatric bathroom equipment Sturdy products that have been specially constructed to make it safer for the heaviest individuals to use the bathroom with confidence and security. Click the links to [...]
Bathroom Safety
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This section is concerned with bathroom safety, and the products that can make bathrooms in care environments safer for users and care assistants. Specific areas such as shower and toilet [...]
Care Beds
Managing the toilet needs of someone who is immobile is a challenge which has led to various solutions – either physically transferring the person to the bathroom, using a hoist [...]
Pressure relief mattresses and overlays Here you will find information about the range of pressure relief mattresses you can select from, depending on the user’s level of risk. We have [...]
Whether lying down or sitting, the heaviest users need heavy-duty, or bariatric, beds and chairs, which are sturdy enough to support them safely, and designed to be as comfortable as [...]
This section is concerned with hospital beds, also known as care beds or nursing beds, designed for individuals with special needs. A proper assessment by a suitably qualified professional is [...]
Night-Time Sleep Systems
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Night-time postural management sleep systems are an important complement to daytime systems for people with complex needs Good postural support need not mean lying on a hard, restrictive surface In [...]
Community Transport
Access Solutions for public transport For transferring wheelchair users safely out of their chair and into a community transport vehicle, a lift such as the Meyland Carlift (shown right) is [...]
Wheelchair Vehicles
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Essential for the safe and convenient transportation of wheelchair users, a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) Standard conversions include lowered floors, counter-balanced ramps and wheelchair security mechanisms. Additional features may also [...]
Wheelchairs & Transport Seating
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Travelling in a car or a wheelchair, supportive transport seating is important Comfort wheelchairs Whether or not it is ideal, for many people with complex disabilities, their wheelchair is the [...]
Health & Exercise
Externally worn protection A penis pouch or condom catheter can be used by men suffering from incontinence following treatment for prostate cancer, for example. This is a sheath that is [...]
Lounge & Dining
Task Seating
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You can work more efficiently and improve concentration with the right functional, task seating Good posture seating places the body in a balanced position which ensures that we can work [...]
Specialist seating for complex needs This section is concerned with specialist seating for individuals with complex needs. Generally, for the greatest comfort and stability, a chair should enable the user [...]
Pressure ulcers used to be known as bed sores, amongst other terms, but the current name reflects the fact that you are just as likely to sustain damage through extended [...]
Having a comfortable chair to relax in is vital, otherwise many people simply spend more time in bed This adaptable chair includes integral pressure management, as well as a [...]
Whether lying down or sitting, the heaviest users need heavy-duty, or bariatric, beds and chairs, which are sturdy enough to support them safely, and designed to be as comfortable as [...]
Laundry & Sluice Room
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A well-planned and properly equipped sluice room is a cornerstone of hygiene and freedom from cross infections. The sluice room is where used disposables such as incontinence pads and bed [...]
Commercial Kitchen
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Food and the general mealtime experience contribute very highly to a person’s quality of life: eating well is fundamental to health and well-being, while failure to receive adequate nourishment – [...]
High performance furniture designed to meet the needs of challenging environments, from nursing and residential homes, to hospitals and secure accommodation. From comfortable chairs to dining suites, television cabinets to [...]
Mobility
Bariatric Mobility Aids
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Bariatric Mobility Aids Walking aids Wheelchairs Mobility scooters Managing stairs Walking Frames & Rollators Extra wide walking frames are available in different heights, to accommodate bariatric users from short to [...]
News & Opinion
Make your premises COVID Secure Independent Living has put together top tips on making the workplace “COVID Secure”, following guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Businesses are trying [...]
Patient Handling
Moving and handling risk assessment With thanks to Inclusion.Me for the hoist selection FAQ below Avoid manual handling where possible Clearly, it is not possible to avoid moving a person [...]
Hoists slings and harnesses Selecting the right hoist sling is as important as choosing the correct hoist, and equally requires careful, professional assessment to ensure that the person is properly [...]
If a person is able to bear some of their own weight for a short amount of time, there are various products to assist in transferring between bed, chair and [...]
This section looks at equipment designed for safe bariatric transfers, making it easier for carers to move the heaviest individuals without risking injury either to themselves or to the client. [...]
There is a range of emergency lifting solutions to assist with moving people who have limited mobility, in potentially dangerous situations. Lifting from the floor If somebody has fallen to [...]
Small Manual Handling Aids
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Small manual handling aids can make a big difference to both client and carer in achieving transfers from one piece of furniture to another – from bed to chair, perhaps [...]
Hoists provide a way to transfer somebody with limited mobility without putting unnecessary strain on the carer or the person being moved. This is a broad overview of the different [...]
Product Rental
Professional Care Product Rental
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Care products and mobility aids for professional use that you can hire or rent on either a long or short-term basis. Click the product names to go straight to more [...]
Telecare & Communication
Telecare and community alarms Telecare is a very topical buzzword, but in fact the basic concept has been with us for many years. Put simply, telecare involves using technology to monitor [...]
There is a wide range of nurse call and alarm systems available – and provision of a nurse call system is of course a requirement for all care homes: “Standard [...]
Therapy
Expert contributor Matthew Box, an Occupational Therapist and Disability Access Auditor, has contributed this article on how Occupational Therapists work. Click the links below to go to more on: What [...]
Speech & Language Therapy
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Speech & Language Therapists (SLTs) also known colloquially as SALTS, work with adults and children who have problems with communication, language skills, feeding or swallowing. There are about 12,500 SLTs [...]
Sensory Therapy
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There is a wide range of creative and sensory therapies available to carers working with individuals with learning disabilities and a range of sensory and cognitive impairments. This section is [...]
Physical Therapy
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There’s no argument with the fact that physical and mental well-being are increased through physical activity. Health Education Authority research has shown that physically disabled people tend to have lower [...]
Joint Care Pressure Relief
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Joint care is an essential element of pressure relief management. Bony areas, such as heels and elbows, are particularly prone to pressure damage, and it is important to give them [...]
For those who are unable to weight bear, standing support can be provided, so that they can achieve a standing position, which will help to strengthen muscles and joints We [...]