Development of a help tool for moving patients in bed

Abstract

Humans live longer and thus the number of patients in hospitals is increasing. The healthcare faces major challenges. One task that is time consuming for carers is moving patients in bed. The movements are usually heavy, which leads to work related injuries for the carers. In the long term it results in injury related absence from work, which leads to lack of staff. This master thesis documents the process and result of a design project executed on behalf of Njord Medtech regarding the development of a help tool for moving patients in bed. The goal is to improve the working environment, which includes reducing the physical demands and the work related injuries, by developing a commercializable help tool. Plenty of interviews have been held during the project, with interesting and useful insights coming forward. There are several solutions for moving patients in bed already. During the user studies it was realized that developing a help tool used in more than one movement can have higher market potential and be easier commercialized. Throughout the project, numerous concepts were generated and evaluated through several iterations. The final concept Triaid facilitates in three different movements in bed and can be used by only one carer. Triaid is a motorized device that replaces the human force, which reduces the physical demand. The use of Triaid can be beneficial for the whole healthcare system.