Top tips on choosing an adjustable bed
If you can’t get to a showroom, or you want to do some research beforehand, here are some key questions to ask before making a purchase.
Who could benefit from choosing an adjustable bed?
Anyone who appreciates a really luxurious and comfortable bed, which can be adjusted from flat to a variety of different positions simply and easily, using a handset.
Adjustable beds are ideal for people who have a range of health conditions which make sleeping or getting in and out of bed difficult.
For example, if you have chronic back pain, sciatica, arthritis, they can help by enabling you to find a more comfortable sleeping position. With reduced mobility or muscle weakness, you can benefit from getting in and out of bed more easily.
If you have a health condition that means you are spending more time in bed, it’s more pleasant if you can change your position – sitting up to read or watch television, for example. Respiratory and circulatory problems can be eased by resting with upper body or legs raised, respectively.
What about a height-adjustable bed?
For users who need attention from a carer while they are in bed, a straightforward lifestyle-type adjustable bed is not sufficient.
It is too awkward and hard on the back to care for someone whilst stooped over a standard height bed.
A profiling (adjustable) bed with variable height solves this problem. It can be raised so that the bed base is at around 80 cm – approximately waist height for a carer.
Isn’t it dangerous for the bed’s occupant to be so high off the ground?
The height-adjustable bed should only be at its upper height when required by the carer. At other times, it is lowered to standard height, so that the user can get in and out of bed more easily, including sideways transfers from chair to bed and vice versa.
If the bed’s occupant is at increased risk of falling, either because of cognitive confusion due to conditions such as dementia, or because of involuntary movements as in Huntingdon’s, a low level bed can limit the likelihood of injury.
These adjustable beds will lower so that the base is very close to floor level, once the occupant is in situ. If they do try to get out of bed unaided, there is much less distance to fall. Judicious use of bed rails or cot sides can also help here, as long as great care is taken to ensure that they are not posing a risk of entrapment or injury themselves.
All-in-one height adjustable or hi-low beds cover the full range from comfortable nursing height right down to just off the floor.
Are there adjustable beds suitable for larger users?
Yes, for example, a number of Opera Care’s Opera profiling beds come in various widths, including an extra wide 120 cm (4 feet).
In addition to providing adequate space for larger and heavier occupants, the extra wide beds can also provide a more welcoming, less clinically austere appearance for bedrooms in both domestic and residential care environments.
Every bed needs a mattress – which to choose?
As with the beds themselves, the choice of the mattress will depend very much on the needs and expectations of the user.
A person choosing an adjustable bed primarily for the luxury of automatically changing their position, is likely to want a similarly comfortable mattress.
It is, of course, essential to get a mattress that has been designed to go with the profiling bed: an ordinary mattress won’t be able to cope with the changing shape of the base.
Beyond that, it is a matter of personal preference as to how firm the mattress should be, and whether a traditional pocket sprung adjustable mattress or a foam one is more suitable. Foam options range from a single layer through to multiple layers with different properties, including a memory foam top layer for extra comfort.
At the top of the range, cooling gel is also incorporated into the layers. This helps to prevent the user becoming uncomfortably warm, and also provides a lying surface which responds to the user’s body shape and movements.
Some people find massage of benefit in easing aching muscles or joints. A mattress incorporating a five-part massage system enables you to activate massage pods across different parts of the mattress; head, upper back, lower back, thighs, and feet. You can activate one area alone, or any combination, with different massage effects, such as wave, pulse, and swell. The speed and intensity of the massage can also be adjusted.
How do you prevent pressure damage?
Anyone who has limited mobility, and spends extended periods lying or sitting in one position, is at risk of developing pressure damage.
Normally speaking, we move automatically whether awake or asleep, in order to reduce discomfort and prevent the same points on the body receiving sustained pressure. If pain or immobility prevents this, other steps must be taken to prevent pressure sores occurring.
Mattresses designed to reduce the risk of damage are made from specialist foam in one or more layers. Castellated foam, which is cross cut or textured on the upper surface, allows for greater conformity to the user’s body shape.
This type of foam also reduces friction and shear – factors which contribute to skin damage – by allowing the surface to move with the user. Improved ventilation, to keep the skin surface cooler, is another benefit.
Solid foam around the edges of the mattress provide a more secure surface for supporting transfers in and out of bed.
How do you treat someone who already has pressure ulcers?
Mattresses made up of cells filled with air, which can be inflated and deflated to redistribute pressure systematically, are the choice to manage pressure damage and care for people at very high risk.
These are available either as a replacement mattress system, or an overlay to go on top of the existing mattress.
You can adjust the firmness by calibrating the weight of the user, and use features such as maximum inflation to provide a firm surface temporarily so that it’s easier to transfer in and out of bed.
A vapour permeable cover and micro vents in the air cells can help prevent overheating or build-up of moisture.
As air is pumped around the mattress continuously, it is important that the pump is as quiet as possible, so as not to disturb the patient. Static cells in the head area of the mattress also improve comfort.
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Further reading and resources
You can see more about Opera Care on their showcase page
There is more information about pressure care here
We have an area of Independent Living dedicated to care beds
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