Hospital Beds for Home / Nursing Home Bed

Benefits a Hospital Bed for a Home Can Provide

There are numerous advantages to using a home care bed for a bedridden loved one compared to using one’s own traditional bed, the main one being that older people and patients of caregivers can experience the same benefits and popular features of a hospital bed, while enjoying the comfort of being at home. Here are some of the most important reasons people should consider using a hospital bed for home care:

Positioning Features

One of the major benefits that residential hospital beds can provide is the ability to offer the same positioning functionality as a typical hospital bed. The longer a person stays in the bed or in one position, the more susceptible they are to developing pressure sores (bed sores) due to the increased pressure that the user’s body weight on a bed causes. Having a hospital-style bed for the home that allows for frequent position changes can help to reduce the risk of suffering from such pressure sores. Along with the bed itself, certain hospital bed mattresses can be purchased in order to help prevent bed sores, by promoting proper air circulation.

Circulation Improvements

Along with the reduction of friction, beds for the elderly at home are optimized to allow better circulation by means of their positioning capabilities. Many elderly people suffer from poor circulation to their neck, head, and feet. Having continuous position changes improves circulation while one is bedridden. This is essential for not only quality of life, but also to help reduce inflammation and pain.

Multiple Safety Features

Hospital-type beds for home use can provide a higher level of safety than a standard mattress and bed will. For instance, medical beds for home use often come with bed rails, which can help to reduce injuries and even the likelihood of death, both of which the elderly or disabled person is at a pronounced risk due to impaired balance. The rails on home health care beds can span either half of the bed or a partial length of the bed. They help those with some mobility get in and out of bed.

Simpler Transfers

These hospital-like beds for the home allow patients to sit up properly, and to transfer more easily in and out of bed. This helps them to more safely access their manual or electric wheelchair, or any other mobility aid. This can also help to benefit those with only limited mobility – such as people with leg or knee issues who require assistance standing. Hospital-style beds for home use allow people to utilize self-transferring capabilities (such as those previously mentioned with a partial bedrail).

Easier for Caregivers 

Caring for a bedridden patient who has just a regular bed can be a painstaking endeavor for caregivers. These standard beds often give rise to numerous health and discomfort problems for the caregiver such as backaches, increased fatigue, and much more. Buying a hospital bed for the home can decrease the amount of stooping, bending, and lifting that a caregiver will need to do. Having such a bed also helps to increase the efficiency of the job and amount of care that a caregiver can give their patient.

Types of Hospital Beds for Home Use

There are two primary types of hospital beds for home use available on the market. Deciding which one a person would need depends on many factors, such as how much mobility the user has, and whether or not they require a caregiver. Both types of beds have numerous benefits, but each has somewhat special features that make them different, which can provide additional benefits. The two types of beds for care homes and users are as follows:

Electric Home Hospital Beds

Electric hospital beds are more widely used due to their advanced features. They can be moved around easily, and adjusted with the push of a button. Electrical beds plug into the wall, and sometimes they can even come with a remote that allows for effortless changes of position. Some models even come with additional features like scales and hand controls that plug into the bed for patients to adjust themselves when desired. Electric beds are the preferred home health hospital bed by many people nationwide. They can be positioned at various different degree angles, and therefore are an excellent choice for one who may not want to or be able to sit straight up or lie down a certain way due to medical reasons. Some electric beds are actually considered to be semi-electric, since they feature both manual and electric means of adjustment. 

Manual Hospital Beds

Having manual hospital beds can greatly benefit those who can handle the required physical aspects of caregiving. At the same time though, a user may not be able to do this if they don’t have adequate strength. Most manual hospital beds are adjusted and moved about by hand cranks or other methods, but they are still much easier to position and move about than a regular bed. These home health care hospital beds can still provide a lot of capabilities, but they also don’t have as many positions available as an electric bed. This type of home health hospital bed is, however, efficient enough to provide relief for most users, and is often lower-priced than a fully electric bed.

Consider the Size of the Bed

One thing to consider is the size of the bed and associated mattress when buying a hospital bed for their home. There are small hospital beds for home use, for those who are looking to maximize their benefits but have limited space. There are also full-sized beds, for others who may be able to handle having a full-sized bed if they have enough room. Either way, one needs to choose a proper weight capacity bed for their use, and they need to keep in mind that the weight of a mattress can take away from the weight capacity of the frame when using a patient bed for home use.

AvaCare Medical has an extensive line of hospital beds for home use from the top medical manufacturing brands. If you happen to have any questions during your search for a medical bed for your home, be sure to read our Hospital Beds Guide for answers to the most common questions. And, of course, you can call us anytime at 1-877-813-7799 during business hours, or email info@avacaremedical.com and we’ll contact you as soon as possible!