Journal of Hunan University (Natural Sciences)

Mamom, J., Rungreungduayboon,B, "A Multidisciplinary Integrative Innovative Mattress Design to Prevent Pressure Injury for Palliative Care in the Community in Thailand", Vol. 48(4), Apr 2021, P 76-81.

Abstract
         A pressure injury is a severe complication that causes excessive interface pressure on a bony prominence and usually occurs in palliative patients in the community. The article describes a new healthcare innovation, A lateral tilting mattress (LTM), based on the pressure injury pathophysiology principle. This modern nursing innovation, created by a multidisciplinary team that could adjust a patient's head and knee and rotate to the left and right, may decrease interface pressure over bony prominences in palliative patients. This experimental research design of 70 palliative home-based patients examined the effectiveness of LTM on pressure injury healing scores and family caregiver's quality of life levels over time from September 2019 to May 2020. We examined differences in patients' pressure injury healing scores and family caregivers' quality of life levels between the different groups: LTM versus no-LTM. Significant time by group interactions was found on patients' pressure injury healing (F = 235.123, p <.01) and family caregivers' quality of life (p <.05) in the LTM versus no LTM group. The results provide evidence for the effectiveness of LTM in improving pressure injury healing scores that may decrease interface pressure over bony prominences in palliative patients and the overall quality of life levels in family caregivers. The findings also suggest the need for further healthcare innovation to improve the quality of care for palliative patients, increase the quality of life (or decrease stress level) among family caregivers, and reduce workloads and danger for caregivers.