Case study: Innovative postural support equipment helps keep client comfortable all day

“An amazing piece of kit” is helping a woman with profound mental and physical disabilities be comfortable during the day.

The woman’s needs are such that she has lived in a Mencap-run supported living bungalow for the past decade to achieve the level of daily care she requires round the clock.

She finds it very difficult to maintain any degree of proper posture, whether sitting or undertaking her daily physiotherapy. Even with different postural care systems, her condition means what works for her one day may not the next.

Her occupational therapist called AAT to support in finding a way to help both her and her carers. The result has been the prescription of an AAT Grande mattress vacuum posture cushion.

In essence a giant bean bag, the Grande holds its shape by the attachment of a pump, which sucks out all the air between the ‘beans’ so that they stay in the contours. It means the equipment is moulded precisely to correctly and comfortably support and stabilise the whole body without pressure.

When the resident requires a different anatomical configuration, however infinite or minute, her care team can make those adjustments, having been trained by AAT. They allow a little air back into the Grande cushion to enable the beans to move, reshape as needed, and reattach and operate the pump to fix the new contours.

Constructed from a sophisticated air- and waterproof form of neoprene, Grande’s surface breathes but is waterproof; thus it can be wiped clean and easily disinfected.

“The Grande is just an amazing piece of kit,” explained the home manager Jane, Turton. “Our resident is content, as far as she is able to communicate to us. She stops vocalising when she’s on the Grande.

“The Grande is the only thing we’ve found that means we can stretch her out properly for her physiotherapy and support her comfortably. In everything else we’ve tried she curls in on herself. We use it in lots of ways- for her physio, and relaxation.

“We can put an assistive technology device underneath, so she can feel the sound vibrations. There are so many ways we can use it, especially as it’s so lightweight: we can move it wherever we need it!”