Revitalise introduces ‘Keep Moving’ initiative to minimise risk of pressure injury

Nov 18 2016

Charity launches ‘Keep Moving’ initiative at its respite centres to mark Pressure Ulcer Awareness Day

The national disabled people’s charity Revitalise has thrown its weight behind the campaign to eradicate pressure injury with a raft of initiatives for the disabled guests at its three accessible UK holiday centres.

Revitalise - which provides respite breaks for disabled people and carers - has come up with ‘Keep Moving’, a five-minute, wheelchair-based exercise routine to increase awareness and minimise the risk of pressure injury among the wheelchair users who come to the charity for breaks.

‘Keep Moving’ is part of an ongoing quality assurance drive within Revitalise and has been endorsed by leading professionals in the tissue viability field, namely Sylvie Hampton, Keith Cutting and Sarah Gray.

As well as ‘Keep Moving’, Revitalise has launched a number of other measures designed to minimise the risk of pressure injury among its guests. These include developing links with local tissue viability teams to provide training for nursing and care staff, appointing a new team of tissue viability nurse champions at each centre and procuring Talley Group ‘Fusion’ hybrid mattresses to provide flexible pressure area care for the centres’ beds.

The raft of measures introduced by Revitalise is part of the charity’s ongoing commitment to best practice in care delivery across its centres. In regard to tissue viability care, the charity has embraced the SSKIN five step model* for pressure injury prevention which has been widely adopted across the NHS.

Tina Chambers, Trustee of the Tissue Viability Society, is to visit Netley Waterside House, Revitalise’s South Coast centre near Southampton, in order to show her support for the initiative on Pressure Ulcer Awareness Day, 17 Nov.

Revitalise’s Director of Care and Quality, Sarah Mancini, commented:

The key reason we came up with ‘Keep Moving’ was to empower our guests to be aware of the importance of skin integrity and regular repositioning through fun, inclusive activities.

We pride ourselves on focussing on what our guests can do, not what they can’t, and already run regular activities designed to keep our guests fit and active, such as Zumba and fitness classes and Boccia tournaments. ‘Keep Moving’ has now been added to this list.  

The raft of initiatives we have introduced and our adoption of the SSKIN five step model in our operating procedures is intended to embed pressure ulcer prevention as a mark of quality care in our service.

Pressure ulcers cause long term pain and distress to those affected and can mean longer stays in hospital. Treating pressure ulcers costs the NHS more than £3.8 million every day, yet it has been estimated that 95% of pressure ulcers are preventable.

Revitalise is a national charity providing respite holidays for disabled people and carers. Revitalise provides short breaks, with 24-hour nurse-led care on-call and personal support, at three accessible UK centres. Each centre offers a wide range of accessible activities and excursions in a holiday environment.