Restraint Alternatives for Nursing Homes

The use of restraints in nursing homes is a controversial practice. While restraining a senior in a bed, wheelchair or chair may prevent falls and keep them physically safe, it creates a loss of dignity for them and may lead to other physical problems such as agitation, muscle atrophy, and difficulty getting to the bathroom. There are a number of alternatives to the use of restraints, though, and many nursing homes are now making use of them.

Support Pillows

• One of the softer alternatives to using either physical or chemical restraints on seniors is to have them use support pillows. For example, rather than using bed rails to keep a senior from rolling out of bed in the middle of the night, some nursing homes will give them full-length body pillows. These pillows stop the seniors from rolling out of bed in his or her sleep, but they can easily be moved in the event that the senior needs to get out of bed. Similar pillows are used to help support a senior who's in a wheelchair rather than using a belt to tie them into the chair.

Therapy and Restorative Care

• Another method that many nursing homes prefer to restraints, according to California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, is to offer nursing home residents restorative care and therapy. The goal of this approach is to help seniors maintain their abilities to walk, stand and to generally take care of themselves for as long as possible by maintaining their muscles and coordination. This is more expensive and time-consuming than simply using restraints, but it is better for the residents' bodies as well as for their confidence.

Adaptive Safety Measures

• There are individualized alternatives that can be taken to help ensure the safety of many seniors. An article on restraint alternatives in "McKnight's Long-Term Care News and Assisted Living," highlights the approach taken with a senior suffering from dementia who, as a retired circus acrobat, was still very physically fit and active. Rather than restraining him to a wheelchair, which would have had many negative effects on his body and his sense of well being, the staff members simply gave him good walking shoes, a bicycle helmet and training in how to use a walker. Whenever possible, adapting safety measures to each resident's abilities and needs, rather than restraining them, is a much better alternative.