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The average older person spends 9.4 hours a day seated or lying down. This is roughly 70% of their waking day.
While these hours are divided between sitting and lying down, it’s safe to assume that, for people who are not bed-bound, most of them will be spent in a chair. This is why care home chairs can make a world of difference for your residents.
Chairs for Seniors — What to Consider When Choosing Them
Choosing care home chairs means more than picking the right colours or patterns. For the elderly, the way they sit matters more than you may think:
How to Choose the Right Chairs for Your Care Home
The average lifespan of nursing home chairs is between five and ten years. They tend to last less than residential home chairs because they are heavily used (remember the 9+ hours a day the elderly spend seated) and because most of them are used by people with various mobility challenges and weights.
Since the chairs can be a significant investment, it’s worth choosing some that will last longer and provide adequate support and comfort levels to your residents.
Height is perhaps the most important factor when choosing chairs for the elderly. Unfortunately, there is no clear standard for everyone. The ideal height of the chair depends on the user’s height.
As a rule of thumb, though, chairs that are higher than the regular ones you will find in retail stores will be easier to lift out of. This goes for both residents who can stand up on their own and for residents who need assistance when standing up.
Barring very tall residents, there are a few size guidelines you can follow to make sure your chairs will be comfortable for all your residents:
Additionally, gerontologists recommend that the user’s thighs should be perpendicular to the floor and their knees should be aligned with the hips to encourage a healthy posture. Moreover, these guidelines help with lifting the resident out of the chair.
Your dining room chairs will get food or liquid spills on them frequently, so you need to be able to clean them right away. To prevent food from getting stuck forever, choose chairs that have a ¾ back. They can provide adequate support and still be easy to clean.
Vinyl is a popular fabric for dining room chairs in a care home, especially for the seat. You can choose a different, more aesthetically-pleasing fabric for the back, but a vinyl seat will save you a lot of trouble. It can simply be wiped with a damp cloth, whereas other fabrics need to be cleaned thoroughly or bleached and will deteriorate much faster.
Dark wood is typically stained to obtain the desired colour. Light-coloured timber, on the other hand, is very close to the wood’s natural colour and to what you usually find under the stain.
Your care home chairs will constantly be hit by walking aids, hoists, and even wheelchairs. The small dents are far less visible in light-coloured wood.
People with dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions need bolder colours and contrasting patterns to help them recognise each place easier.
Steer clear of beiges and grays and opt for colours and patterns that are easily recognisable. Similarly, choose differently-coloured chairs for each room and area of your care home to avoid getting your residents confused.
Final Thoughts
Care home chairs need to be functional, comfortable, and to cater to residents with various mobility and cognitive challenges. Moreover, they also need to withstand erratic behaviour so that your investment is protected for years to come.
Thus, it’s important that you avoid regular, retail furniture. Work with a company that specialises in creating furniture for care homes. This will ensure that you get chairs that provide the right comfort and support, as well as withstand the test of time.
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