How Smart is the Carevo®? Results of a Study on a New Shower Trolley Generation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the traditional height-adjustable shower trolley with the Carevo, a shower trolley with a new design. Compared to the traditional height-adjustable shower trolley, the Carevo has higher side supports, indented curves on the long sides, handles, arrow-shaped ends, and a mattress with a flexible mid-section. In this study four nurses carried out five shower cycles using the traditional height-adjustable shower trolley and five shower cycles using the Carevo. These activities were filmed and analysed by multi-moment sampling at a fixed 3-second interval. Each observation consists of a back score, arm score, leg score and neck score. Results show that working with the Carevo leads to less postural stress on the musculoskeletal system of the caregiver, compared to the traditional height- adjustable shower trolley. There is a 10.2% improvement in time spent in a neutral back position and a 9.4% improvement in the time spent in a neutral neck position. However, the improvements depend on the cut off point: if the cut off point is a flexed back posture of 20°, a 3.0% improvement is found. Although quality of care and comfort was not the subject of this research, we would like to state there is room for improvement, as the patient spends only a small part of the total time on the trolley being showered, which can easily lead to an uncomfortable experience. This quality of care issue seems to be addressed more effectively by new features of the Carevo compared to the traditional height-adjustable shower trolley.