MDS Alert

Care Planning Tip:

Help Fall-Proof Residents Without Using Waist Belts

This strategy can improve quality of life.

Residents who get up without letting you know can be a fall waiting to happen.

But in lieu of using a chair or waist restraint to keep the person safely in place, consider this alternative strategy: "Put something on the person's lap that she values very much. That way she will want to hand it to someone before getting up," suggests Diana Waugh, RN, BSN, president of Waugh Consulting in Waterville, OH.

"When the person starts to give his or her lap object to you, you know the person is ready to move," says Waugh.

Example: Staff at one facility figured out that one woman with dementia would not get up without seeking help if she had her favorite white sweater on her lap with her purse on top, Waugh relays. "Religious people who like to hold their Bible will do the same if they were taught not to drop their Bible, as many of the older generation" have been, she adds.

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