Because first of all, man is not made to sit. But the last 2-3 generations have shown us that sitting positions take a much larger part of our daily lives. Since we are now considerably more seated than before, it is important to think about variation in sitting posture. For older people this is often more difficult, because of a reduced ability to make small adjustments.
Variation of seating position
"The next sitting position is the best" is a widely heard statement by ergotherapists and physiotherapists when they talk about sitting posture. This means that you have to vary the sitting position based on what we need at that time.
A desk or work chair, where we depend on being able to use our arms functionally, has a very different design than a relaxing chair. Healthy adults vary with different seating and standing positions throughout the day. And when we first sit down, we adjust our sitting position lightly several times per minute.
Older people are less adaptable. As we get older, we lose a little of this ability to constantly adjust the sitting position. We also often lose the ability to move safely between different seating furniture.
By far the most accidents happen in the house. And most of these are falls from their own height (read; fall to the ground). For example, the small change in blood pressure in elderly people from sitting to standing is enough to create a imbalance in some users alone. A gradual change in sitting to stopping results in a much smaller decrease in blood pressures than a rapid change in posture.
Gradual change from sitting to standing leads to a much smaller drop in blood pressure than a rapid change of posture. The solution for many elderly people is often a good chair with many variations such as a "lift chair" to gradually change from seat to stand.
Such a chair gives us the possibility to stand up in a safe way. e.g. lift seat Acrylic 17, gives you the possibility of a lot of variation in posture in a sitting position. From a horizontal and lying position, to a sitting location, and further to a position about vertical and standing. The fact that the chair guides the natural position is considered very safe for our users.
The feet must be on the ground.
Only when your feet are safely on the ground is it time to leave the chair. The curvature of the armrests is shaped so that we get a good "push-off" with the arms. For users with reduced hand function it is possible to mount a round handle on the outside of the seatrest, which ensures a better grip.
Some elderly people also need support in sitting posture. We all seek stability in sitting, and then it is important that the seat is well adjusted in terms of seat width and depth, leg length and back height. Hepro Artic 17 gives you the ability to fine tune these settings without tools.
Extra equipment that means a lot.
There are also many additional options that offer more support. This can be siderests in the back, lumbar support or neck cushion. A user who has had a stroke may need more support on one side of the back than on the other side. Some rheumatic users may have a kyphotic spine and require a larger neck cushions.
Head in middle position.
When we sit, it is very beneficial that we have our head in the middle position to be able to follow the environment more easily. The head is quite heavy (about 5 kg) and it becomes extra heavy to hold up in a forward bent position. To keep the head in mid position we are dependent on maintaining the natural curves in the back and support in the lower back is especially important.
Ingenious hand pump for lumbar support.
The need for lumbar support is not so great in the back. Hepro Artic 17 an ingenious solution whereby we can provide extra support in the lower back while sitting using a hand pump, and then let the air escape lying down.
Pressure relief and comfort.
As we age, we often lose the ability to continually make small adjustments in sitting positions. This means that we stay in the same position over time. We also know that our skin quality decreases with age. Here Hepro Artic 17 has developed a new cushion set in 2-layer foam to improve pressure relief and comfort. In addition, it is possible to place a full anti-decubitus pad when the probability of decubitis is high. Also use the different positioning options offered by the chair so that we can spread the pressure across different body parts.
How to prevent falls?
Earlier in the article we mentioned that the vast majority of accidents happen at home. And most of these are falls from their own height (read; fall to the ground).
Why is this happening? And how to prevent falls?
We need to vary our position as much as possible and keep moving. Ideally, we can keep running function as long as possible, which is possible through safe recovery. If we sit or lie in the same position over time, we will go back physically and mentally.
Purely physiologically, we can explain it as follows:
In the back position we have a very large support surface (the contact surface against the surface). We have few demands on our body and our brain gets little feedback. As we stand in a sitting position, the support surface becomes smaller and we impose slightly higher demands on the body. Now our brain receives more feedback from the body and they stimulate postural regulation.
Postural control can easily be interpreted as controlling the balance and maintaining equilibrium against gravity.
When we stand up, the support surface is drastically reduced, we impose higher demands on the body and stimulate posture regulation to a much greater degree. During walking we have a very small and variable support plane, which sets high demands for posture control.
Attitude control can be easily interpreted as: controlling the balance and maintaining equilibrium against gravity.
The effect of an elevator chair.
Use the different positioning options on a Hepro Artic 17 to adjust the position, both in sitting and lying position. This to provide a good variety. And most importantly: by laying on the seat you can safely stand up and move around the room with or without running aids.
Our slogan fits well as conclusion: Stay home with this Artic 17!
We have created a manual for buying the right armchair Lift chair (relax) with upright function - who fits the different models for:
1. Hepro Arctic 17 Standard: individual adjustment of back and foot cushion. Suitable for anyone who needs a lift chair
2. Hepro Arctic 17 Tilt: The models are the most advanced of our models. The chair can be tilted back in back for optimum stool. All our Tilt models can be flipped backwards, i.e. the legs are higher than the head. The seat is suitable for people who sit in the chair large parts of the day and need varied lighting. Changing the seat position is important to prevent decubitis.
3. Hepro Arctic 17 Synchronous: The footrest and backrest move in synchronized manner, so that the hip is under strain as much as possible when changing position. The chair relieves your legs while watching or reading TV. This chair is especially suitable for cognitively weak users.
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