Experience reports on the Therapeutic Bed ThevoVital used in our facility
The Therapeutic Bed ThevoVital for persons with dementia, made by Thomashilfen, was tested in our facility (care community “Baelum Aeldrecenter”). The following results could be noticed during testing:
Resident No. 1: ThevoVital was used first with a woman with progressed stage of dementia. Prior to testing, her daily routine was dominated by conflicts she had with other residents or caregiving staff. At night, she slept very little. She was very restless, wanting to go back home to her husband and children. She often was very upset, accusing her siblings of stealing from her. She became physically violent and also verbally abusive towards others almost every day. Being provided with the Therapeutic Bed ThevoVital, we noticed significant improvement in her sleep rhythm. She still woke up a few times at night, but after a short while she wanted to be brought back to bed without showing any aggressive behavior. Furthermore, we could clearly notice that conflicts with caregiving staff and other residents decreased in the daytime. She now often engaged with us, a smile in her face, telling us that she is doing fine and feeling comfortable. This had never happened before. The woman has been sleeping on ThevoVital for half a year now and her sleep behavior improved even more. At times she sleeps through the night without waking up at all. Also her aggressive behavior decreased. This, of course, facilitates staff handling of her and is a great relief to them. Prior to using ThevoVital, this lady required constant staff supervision throughout the day. These care efforts are considerably reduced. The time between physical and verbal conflict keeps growing. The result is an improved working climate amongst our caregiving staff.
Resident No. 2: The second person provided with ThevoVital was a male resident (Mr. X) with a progressed stage of dementia. He was brought to us, when living at home was no longer possible. A MMSE test (Mini-Mental-State-Examination) showed that the mental state of Mr. X was equal to that of a baby. He was physically mobile and strong and had no other deficits. Coming to rest was very difficult for him, and the caregiving staff had extreme problems communicating and dealing with him. Mr. X was not a Danish citizen and dementia made him forget the Danish language. This circumstance made it even more difficult for the staff to communicate verbally with him. Mr. X also had hallucinations. He did not want to eat or drink accusing the staff of trying to poison him. After using ThevoVital for 14 days, this resident slept through most of the nights. Although he still believed that the staff wanted to kill him, he accepted more care and assistance. His anxiety states disappeared almost completely. Mr. X began to eat and drink without assistance and often greeted us with a smile in his face. During the entire period of using ThevoVital staff observed a considerable improvement of Mr. X. Half a year later, the state of this resident worsened substantially due to illness. So we decided to use the Therapeutic Bed, ThevoVital, with another patient.
Jeanette Jakobsen District Director Rebild Commune
Bælum Ældrecenter, Møllevangen 1, 9574 Bælum |