Abstract
Manual patient handling tasks put formal and informal caregivers at risk of musculoskeletal injury. Intervention research to reduce risks to informal caregivers is limited. This study examined effects of slide sheet use when individual informal caregivers performed patient boosting and turning tasks. Three methods of slide sheet use and a baseline method (no slide sheet) were compared, to reposition a 70 kg individual. Muscle activity, ground reaction force, posture, and rating of perceived exertion were significantly affected by task method. Erector Spinae activity was reduced in boosting and turning away tasks with the slide sheet. Shoulder elevation, torso angle, and normalized vertical ground reaction force were also reduced with the slide sheet during boosting. The turn towards task was generally not improved with the slide sheet. Overall, using a slide sheet provided biomechanical benefits to individual caregivers performing two common patient handling tasks: boosting and turning patient away from caregiver.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
