the brand logo of Silvalea ltd on silvalea.com
The brand logo of Silvalea ltd on silvalea.com

Case Study: Walk Assist Jacket

Scenario

A mother contacted Silvalea to see if there was anything we could create to help prevent her from having to hold her daughter’s clothing when they were walking or transferring.

Although her daughter was able to walk independently, she could stumble at times and mum would have to hold and grab at her clothing and limbs to steady her and prevent her from tripping over and falling.

Mum requested that the product that would ‘blend’ like a piece of clothing and not look like a medical product. It would also need to have strategically placed handles incorporated to avoid having to actually physically touch her daughter. 

Scenario

Development

The Silvalea R&D Team set about designing the product and developed a lightweight waist coat style jacket with a concealed zip up front and side zips.

The addition of the side zips allowed the jacket to expand to allow more room for when outer clothing is worn underneath.

Soft guide handles were positioned on the outside of the jacket which would enable any carer to offer some postural support when needed and avoid grabbing and holding of clothing or limbs. 

Development

Success

The Walk Assist was created and has been a great addition to the Silvalea Range. To view this product page click here.

We have seen the Walk Assist be successfully used in many different healthcare and residential settings the Walk Assist has also been useful to assist and steady those using a walking stick/frame. 

Testimonial

"The walk assist jacket has been extremely useful as a replacement to the somewhat flawed manual handling belt. For those service users who are more unsteady on their feet, it makes complete sense for the support worker to have 2 points of contact rather than one. It has been particularly useful for those service users who are either tall or ‘top heavy’. It has given a new lease of life to a number of people I have worked with, as well as increasing the confidence of support workers who are assisting people to be mobile." Specialist Physiotherapist, NHS

Success