Happily ever after

5 Tips for avoiding low back pain in manual transfer are:

1. Avoid twist motion Large spinal muscles are easily strained with twisting motions.
2. Straighten yourself While bending in transfer, you run the risk of overstretching or tearing any of the large muscles or supporting ligaments around your spine.
3. Transfer the center of gravity You can transfer a patient only when affecting the center of gravity. The center of mass of a sitting patient as well as that of standing caregiver is near one’s solar plexus.
4. Fix the knees of a patient When the knee of the patient is unstable, the risk of a fall as well as lower back pain of the caregiver will result.
5. Use principle of leverage Like seesaws, a caregiver can use less force to lift a patent when the distance between the center of mass of a caregiver and the pivot point is longer than that of a patient.

These tips suggest that you should not transfer the patient only by muscular force of the back or arms, but by shifting the center of mass of the two.

We provide “LIFTY” that naturally incorporate the 5 tips mentioned above. A belt fixes the knee of the patient and serves as the pivot point when supported by the caregiver’s knee. By making a patient incline forward and by applying body weight of oneself backward, a caregiver can lift patient up not by muscular force but by weight balance.

LIFTY has the shape of a cushion, based on universal design concept, and so patients are willing to use in daily life, and caregivers can immediately transfer patients without stress.