Seating Practices and Staff Perceptions at Long-term Care Insurance Facilities

Abstract

  We clarified the state of seating practices and perception among nurses, caregivers, and physical or occupational therapists working at long-term care insurance facilities that practice seating in pursuit of spreading seating practices.

  We obtained the cooperation of four special nursing homes for the elderly and three health care facilities for the elderly (a total of seven facilities). The facilities implemented seating practices as a result of issues including postural problems, pressure sores, unwillingness to be physically restrained, and difficulty sitting due to contracture. The effects of seating were classified into changes in elderly people, changes in staff, and changes in families and facility operation. Changes in elderly people that were described included improvements in postural problems and a reduction in pressure sores.

  At facilities that practiced seating, staff felt the potential danger of the effects on elderly people arising from unnatural sitting postures, and physical or occupational therapists took the lead in promoting seating. Staff also felt that seating had an effect on staff as well as elderly people.