Caregiver Resilience: Improving Ergonomics for the Safety, Comfort, and Health of Caregivers

Hospitals are not always functional for caregivers. Caregivers have to sit for long hours while they take care of patients. In addition, caregivers have to sleep on uncomfortable furniture in order to be in close proximity to their loved ones. Prolonged sitting with immobility in the knee and hip joints, and compression of the popliteal vein at the edge of the chair, results in reduced venous blood flow, which could lead to venous thrombosis. In addition, inadequate sleep as a result of using uncomfortable furniture along with caregiver responsibilities and worries can lead to a diminished ability to think and make decisions, and have a negative impact on the health of the caregiver. Novel ergonomic design interventions such as the Venous Chair to help improve venous blood flow for seated activities and the Sit2Sleep furniture for sleeping are therefore essential to improve the physical and psychological resilience of caregivers.