Hospices are a haven of warmth and hope, and provide exceptional end-of-life care for people with terminal illness. We have worked extensively with hospices over many years, delivering turnkey fitouts and supplying complex specialist seating.
To celebrate the amazing work they do, we created a seating brochure dedicated entirely to hospices and care homes. Fill in the form on this link to request a free copy and learn more about our hospice seating range.
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What Seating is Best for Hospices and Palliative Care?
Inpatient care managers and palliative nursing staff will often want to know, what are the best palliative care chairs to use during end-of-life care?
Seating in hospice environments is subject to heavy use, and needs to be transferrable across a wide range of patients with different needs and conditions. Patients going through the stages of palliative care need specific treatment provisions including in their seating.
These are some of the standout features that hospices look for across their patient seating ranges:
Inbuilt Pressure Care
Hospice patients who are receiving end-of-life care will spend a lot of time seated because of their physical condition and weakness. In addition to this, skin integrity can break down during the final stages as blood flow moves away from the skin to vital organs such as the heart, lungs and brain. Therefore it is important to have a high standard of pressure relief built into the chair to keep the patient as comfortable as possible and preserve their skin integrity.
The surface fabric used is important to prevent shear, keep the skin hydrated and provide a soft, supple contact surface. To alleviate pressure points, incorporate visco foam or coolgel into the seat cushion and legrest to minimize the risk of any pressure damage to the skin.
Postural Support
24-hour postural support can be achieved by incorporating seat, width and depth adjustment within the chair and using a range of different backrests and accessories, to specialise the posture of the chair to the patient’s specific requirements.
Lento accessories
Sympathetic Styling
Hospices are an oasis of calm and serenity for patients and their families, which permeates through in their soft furnishings and tranquil hues of colour. Seating colours and fabrics can be specified to match these colours and augment the environment, bringing peace and tranquillity to their surroundings.
Maximo Material Colour Options
Infection Control
Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs) are a major concern in hospices, to keep clients free from infection during their closing days. There are a range of innovative features available such as magnetic cushions and ingress-free design to prevent bacteria from harbouring.
Large Castors
Large wheeled castors are very useful in hospices to move patients around, giving them freedom to move around indoors and get outside in the fresh air. Outdoor spaces and nature help improve mood and wellbeing which is very important for hospice residents.
Battery Backup
The accupak battery system is a useful feature to include, allowing the chair to remain fully operational while being moved between locations, without trailing wires.
Compatible with Moving & Handling Aids
Giving the patient the smoothest possible transfer takes the stress and discomfort out of daily routines. Look for chairs that can be used with standaids and hoists to transfer the patient easily with minimum strain.
Sara Stedy
Customisable Backrests
The type and level of backrest support will depend on the core strength and spine health of the individual. Configurable chairs like the Lento range have different backrest styles that can swapped out.
The lateral backrest provides more sideways support for patients who have a weak core who tend to lean to one side. The lateral waterfall backrest allows the cushions to be repositioned individually to make the patient as comfortable as possible. As well as holding them more centrally in the chair, their improved posture helps with breathing, circulation and digestion.
Lento Mobile
The Lento Mobile is a winning seating solution for hospices, due to its multi-functional nature. It is a market-leading chair, being the first riser recliner/care chair hybrid. It combines all the advanced features of a typical care chair with the functionality and portability of a riser recliner. Its portability allows the resident to be moved around the hospice, so they can access treatments and socialise with family and friends.
Lento Mobile riser recliner
These benefits are set out in its well thought-out features:
- Angle-adjustable push handle – giving carers the ability to adjust the handle height up and down, the chair can be easily moved between locations
- Its slim profile allows it to be easily moved through doors and tight spaces
- Its wheeled castors provide excellent manoeuvrability and each wheel is braked for secure positioning
- Compatible with the Sara Stedy standaid
- Full postural support available with seat height, width and depth adjustment
- Infection control is central to the design of the chair with modular removeable components and magnetic wipe-clean cushions.
Other chairs
The Lento chair range accommodates many different sizes and personal needs, with bariatric (50 stone) and mediatric (40 stone) versions also available. Some of the other chairs in our range are popular with hospices, incorporating many of the features described earlier.
Lento Care Chair
Designed to accommodate the widest distribution of adults over 5’ 2” needing specialist seating. As well as fully adjustable seat dimensions, the Lento care chair can provides round-the-clock postural and pressure support with its adjustable cushions and high-spec pressure relief.
Lento Care Chair Vivid Care
Little Lento Care Chair
The junior version of the Lento Care Chair, the ‘Little Lento’ is for children and small adults up to 5’ 2”, providing all the same features.
Lento Neuro
The Lento Neuro was designed for patients with neurological conditions, ideal for patients who have advanced Huntington’s or MND. The cocooned seat and strong steel frame provide extra security and stability, helping to control ataxic movements. The raked seat and soft wicking fabric provide excellent levels of pressure relief, keeping patients cool and hydrated who may be seated for long periods of time.
Lento Neuro Care Chair
Hospice-friendly Features
As well as the advanced clinical benefits of the Lento range, some of the softer, more nuanced features are important to suit the hospice environment. This is where the Lento range really goes above and beyond in terms of hospice compatibility.
Colour and Aesthetics
The choice of colour and aesthetics is a really important one for hospices. Using softer hues helps create a warm, comforting environment, and we have a wide range of colour schemes to blend in with your existing décor:
These are some example of some creative colour schemes we have used recently for hospices we have worked with:
Skanda Vale hospice chairs
Forest Holme hospice chairs
Service and Repair Backup
We know how critical it is to keep equipment in top working order. Our engineers are available for site visits and you can take out a service contract for extra reliability and peace of mind. Find out more about our maintenance contracts here.
Summary
We’re proud of the incredible care that hospices provide, and are privileged to have helped many across the UK with their seating plans. We want to continue to support specialist care for end-of-life patients with palliative seating that offers the best levels of comfort for all hospice residents.
For more advice on hospice seating and to find out more about the work we do, contact our Acute Seating Team:
Speak to our Acute Seating Team
Ralph has many years' experience in the healthcare sector. In a previous life he worked in finance, and his spreadsheet skills come in handy for all the analysis and research he does as he investigates topics and solutions for some of the world's most complex healthcare conditions and challenges. Aside from writing in-depth articles and organising webinars and interviews with top healthcare professionals, Ralph also administrates Vivid's "Healthcare Pioneers Board", a large group of healthcare specialists with multiple disciplines, who are working together to improve care for years to come.
