Is There Room for Improvement? Stroke Rehabilitation Environments May Not Reflect Home Environments in Terms of Chair, Toilet, and Bed Heights.
Katharine Scrivener, Louise Ada, Michael Pellegrini and 6 others
PMID 39372251WHAT IT FOUND
Home chairs and toilets are lower than hospital equipment, while bed heights are similar.
Therapists should match chair and bed heights to the patient's actual home environment rather than relying on standard hospital settings for discharge planning.
Key findings
01Home toilet height was 3 cm lower than hospital toilet height.
02Home chair height was 2 cm lower than hospital ward chair height and 5 cm lower than hospital gym chair height.
03Bed and plinth heights were similar between home and hospital environments.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Different people measured the equipment in hospitals (therapists) versus homes (family members), though both followed a standard procedure. The study only included participants expected to return to private dwellings, so findings may not apply to those going to residential care. Home measurements were taken without adjustment, which reflects the environment the patient actually faces but may not reflect optimal setup.
Declared interests
No specific conflicts of interest or funding sources were detailed in the provided text beyond the ethics approval from Alfred Health.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume hospital gym or ward transfers are representative of home transfers. The home environment has lower chairs and toilets, and higher variability, which may pose greater challenges for patients with limited strength or balance.