“Moving and Handling People the Caregiver’s Way”. This was the title of an article I found when roaming the internet for something to share with you all. “Great!”, so I thought. “This sounds ideal.” However, when I read it, I thought it should have been entitled “Moving and Handling People the Scaregiver’s Way”
The appropriately named isnare.com is a directory of
free articles for anyone to
gain “advice” from
Speaking for the carer in the home (I.e. Family member rather than a professional carer, it starts off by recognising that moving and handling tasks are dangerous and that “fractures may result as a consequence of mishandling an old person; an injured and recuperating person that came from accident treatment can become even more aggravated because of mishandling”, the site quite rightly claims
This is just the sort of thing I
need to give something to my readers....But then it all went downhill...
My eyebrows were first raised at the start of paragraph 4 where the author claims that “in most countries, moving and handling people is handled by caregivers or call-in nurses at the house of the patient...” I wondered how many countries the author had visited to make such a bold statement. In my experience, even in this country never mind “most” countries, it is the family members who provide the bulk of care for their loved ones. Never mind, it is a minor point and the article is aimed at those wonderful people who care for their loved ones anyway. Lets move on... Lets look at some of the tips presented to enable these heros to cater for their loved ones needs;
• If the patient is conscious and can understand you, ask him to place his hands on your shoulder when you try to sit him on the bed. Give the person an embrace position and lean back and use your legs to pull up his body.
• The wheelchair must be secured of its wheels when sitting the person on it. The patient must always start from sitting position. You have to go in front of him and put your arms under his armpit while telling him to hold on to the wheelchairs’ arm rest for support. Do the same thing when moving back the person to his bed. Always watch out for the person’s neck also.
Fortunately there was a disclaimer at the bottom of the page which reads in part...”All information, content, and data in this article are sole opinions and/or findings of the individual user or organization that registered and submitted this article... The article is strictly for educational or entertainment purposes only and should not be used in any way...”
