SUPPLEMENT: SPHM and Falls: Making the Connection

Manual patient handling is gradually being replaced by an evidence-based, ergonomics approach to patient handling,1 resulting in a significant decrease in patient handling-related injuries among caregivers.2-6 The last several years, however, have seen a much stronger drive from healthcare facilities adopting safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) programs to require a greater return on their investment. Executives are looking at what SPHM can offer them as a way of improving the quality of care provided to their patients and the subsequent outcomes that SPHM brings, particularly within their general patient safety agenda. This includes what the use of SPHM equipment can do for patients who are at a high risk of falls as well as helping to minimize unexpected falls.

Bulat T, Betts M, Monaghan HM