Tony Ryan
(
17/02/2009 13:33): There is equipment that is mandatory, preferred equipment, Other equipment and user defined (currently listed as other in the equipment screens).
What is the difference?
Mandatory equipment is required for the specific task group and physical support needs cateogry (eg an electric bed is required for all ON BED tasks where the individual is classified as "Co-assist" or "Requires Full Support").
There is no mandatory equipment for "No Physical Support Required."
Preferred equipment reduces the risk of injury to staff or the individual due to its design (eg a hi-lo hygiene chair reduces the risk of injury to both staff and the individual because it has an adjustable height range that enables an individual to easy sit on the chair and also enables the staff to raise the individual to a height were they can wash, shave, groom, clean teeth, brush hair, etc without awkward postures or prolonged bending and stooping).
Other equipment is basic equipment that can assist an individual to maintain their indpendence and make the task easier for staff. However, there is still the risk of manual handling injuries arising from the use of the equipment (eg a standard shower / commode chair [fixed height with or without wheels] still poses risks associated with awkward postures or prolonged bending and stooping when staff use it for personal care tasks and dressing).
Can equipment be both mandatory and preferred? - Yes. In the case of lifting a person who requies full phyiscal support for staff it is mandatory to have either an overhead hoist or a mobile sling hoist. In this case an overhead hoist is preferred because the force require (amount of effort and impact on a staff members shoulders etc) is significantly less than what is required with a mobile hoist.
Why is the above information important? The above information is important because when developing an automatic action plan, the system needs to identify the following:
Where mandatory equipment is not being used for the required task.
Where "other equipment" (see point 6) is being used and there is preferred equipment available - the recommendation around this would be different to mandatory equipment.
Does this make sense?
Furthermore, we need to discuss whether to break it up (as it currently is) on the equipment question screens. There are advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage is that people may then just respond
yes to things if they feel they must have it. The advantage is that it may educate people on the best ways to reduce risk to staff and individuals.
In terms of the task groups should match the equipment screens (similar to the current):
On bed
Getting in and out of bed, chairs (including wheelchairs and hygiene chairs), on / off the floor.
Mobility in the home
Mobility in the community
Personal care off bed (eg bathing, showering, grooming, cleaning teeth)
Meals
In and out of or travelling in vehicles
You would then need the following:
Mandatory - Full Support Required
Mandatory - Co-assist
Preferred Risk Reduction Method
With the above you can maintain the current questions and, where there are changes there is no need to add additional fields to the system (in fact you loose one). The best thing about the equipment list is that it is easy for me to maintain on an on-going basis.
Unfortunately, I do not have any brain waves on how to then link it to the procedures. The only thing that I can think of is that the standard procedures has an interface similar to the equipment list and in the same way you select the equipment in the equipment required questions, you select the equipment that can be used for that procedure. The system could then read the individual's capabilities first, then both the "Equipment currently used" question and the equipment "to be used" for various procedures and match it with the best fit.