Dycem Non-Slip will be exhibiting at the 2015 Occupational Therapy Show, the UK’s largest dedicated event just for occupational therapists. The show takes place at the Birmingham NEC (Hall 9, Stand E1) on Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th November 2015.
With only one day to go until The Occupational Therapy Show opens, we are busy making the finishing touches to our exhibit, ready for the action-packed couple of days ahead.
We always learn so much and enjoy meeting the thousands of super occupational therapists that attend. When not at one of the many motivational lectures, practical workshops and live demonstrations by those at the very forefront of occupational therapy; don’t miss out on the chance to visit the Dycem Non-Slip team at stand E1. We will be showcasing how Dycem Non-Slip products are essential for occupational therapy professionals and are an important part of any OT’s tool kit. We will also have goodie bags complete with a #DycemKeepCalm OT mat to giveaway!
‘Keep Calm I’m an Occupational Therapist’ Coasters
The Dycem Non-Slip team will be returning to Düsseldorf, Germany for the 2015 Rehacare International Trade Fair for the rehabilitation and care-giving sectors.
The exhibition is the perfect fit for Dycem as it showcases products that make life easier for those with disabilities, the elderly and for care giving.
Rehacare 2015 Map
The exhibition runs from the 14th to 17th October 2015 . We invite you to join us at stand A74/X in hall 3 for hands-on product demonstrations and to see how Dycem Non-Slip products can make life easier.
Don’t worry if you can’t make the event – you can find out more about our products at dycem-ns.com and you can chat with us at Facebook or on twitter @DycemNS !
The 8th annual Falls Prevention Awareness Day (FPAD) is being observed today in the USA – the first day of fall. Falls are the leading cause of injuries to older Americans but they needn’t be. FPAD aims to raise awareness about how to prevent fall-related injuries among older adults.
Every 13 seconds, an older adult is seen in an emergency department for a fall related injury and half of these falls take place in the home. So it is important to inspect your home for fall risks and Dycem Non-Slip can help in many situations:
Dycem Non-Slip Adhesive Strips can be used to add extra grip on stair / grab rails and provide a visual cue.
Dycem Non-Slip Self Adhesive Tape
Dycem Non-Slip Netting can be used under rugs to prevent them slipping, rucking and lifting.
Dycem Netting under rug
Dycem Non-Slip Floor Mats can be placed around the home to provide unbeatable stability for feet during a number of movements such as the transfer from bed to chair.
Dycem Non-Slip Floor Mats
Other simple modifications to make your home safer include removing clutter, improving lighting, adding grab bars in the bathroom, adding a second hand rail on stairs, and non slip paint on outdoor steps.
Aside from keeping your home safe, here are 5 more steps you can take to prevent a fall.
Steps to preventing falls
Through these practical lifestyle adjustments, the likelihood of falls can be reduced substantially.
Following last month’s Dycem Hackathon, the Non-Slip team headed to The Royal College of Art to see some of our products and ideas brought to life in an exhibit entitled, On the Frontline.
In association with the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, On the Frontline featured design concepts and research focused on the topic of Inclusive Design.
‘Inclusive Design’ is a term which describes the process of developing products, services or systems to benefit all people- no matter their age or abilities and is a founding principle within the Helen Hamlyn Centre.
Research Associate, Julia Johnson, partnered with Dycem Non-Slip last year, and in that time she has developed many new and exciting product concepts for our famous non-slip material.
A sneak peek at things to come – the ‘stick to it’ exhibition display.
As part of her exhibit, Julia compiled these new concepts into a visual presentation and created some prototype models, for visitors to pick up and hold, to experience Dyem’s high-grip properties for themselves.
The exhibit also featured images by Sarah Hibbert, who kindly came down to the Hackathon event to photograph the Non-Slip team during the workshop.
The outcome of this project is a catalogue of ideas, products and easy-to-use packaging, taking Dycem into new product areas and applications. Some of these products sit in the home environment, in kitchens and living rooms all providing unique inclusive design concepts.
A co-creation approach has featured materials-based hackathons with user groups and creative teams. The ‘stick to it’ catalogue contains ideas that are inspired by users, experts and the designer herself.
The exhibition featured a series of documentary photographs of Julia’s research project.
It’s been a pleasure to work with Julia and the Royal College of Art’s Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. Watch this space for the development of products from the ‘stick to it’ portfolio.
Dycem Managing Director Mark Dalziel
Julia discusses exhibit with atendees
Julia & Dycem Non-Slip manager Eva
Visitors discuss Dycem Non-Slip display at exhibition
We’ve had a creative few days here at Dycem Non-Slip HQ! We hosted a design hackathon with our friends from the Royal College of Art’s Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. There was a breadth of creativity on display and their inclusive design expertise led to some innovative potential Dycem Non-Slip products that aim to make life easier for all. We are excited to see which of these designs could become a reality. Watch this space!
Dycem Non-Slip & Royal College of Art associates discuss ideas.
The Interagency Program for Assistive Technology (IPAT) has created this great video showing how a Dycem Non-Slip mat can be used to make pouring drinks even easier in conjunction with a pouring aid. Dycem’s excellent non-slip properties ensure that a drinking vessel stays firmly in place, making pouring easy for individuals lacking the strength or gripping ability necessary to safely and effectively pour.
We’re always interested in hearing how you use Dycem, so please let us know via Twitter with the hashtag #myDycem or via Facebook.
The Non-Slip team would like to thank everyone who came to visit us at the Cot 2015 Conference and Exhibition (which ran from 30th June-2nd July).
We had a great show- despite the heatwave- in the wonderfully air-conditioned Brighton centre, on Brighton’s lively sea front.
We gave away stacks of goodie bags with our ‘Keep Calm I’m an Occupational Therapist’ Dycem coaster samples- which are always a huge hit with the OT’s. We also spread the word, far and wide, about Dycem Non-Slip’s therapeutic applications.
We would like to thank our resident expert, Jen Cave-Ayland, for helping us out during the exhibition. She is an Occupational Therapist and was only too happy to help with any OT-related questions posed to us from the delegates.
COT 2015
Once again, we ran our ‘How do You Use Dycem?’ competition, where we collected responses from attendees on their best reviews and new uses for Dycem.
Some of the answers included, using Dycem to hold arms still during Mirror Box Therapy exercises and using Dycem reel material for scar tissue massage.
Watch this space to find out who won, as we’ll be announcing the winner soon.
We look forward to seeing you at COT 2016, which will be held in Harrogate.
Rehacare 2015
Rehacare 2015
The Non-Slip team will also be heading to Dusseldorf in October to exhibit at the Rehacare 2015 Conference.
We hope to see you there!
And if you are an Occupational Therapist who attended COT 2015, we’d love to hear your thoughts on how the show went for you. Please leave us a comment below.
We have launched a new range of multi-purpose comfort tapes which create a superior built-up grip.
The super grip comfort tapes feature unique grip properties, a thick cushioned surface and are ideal for wrapping around utensils and mobility equipment handles.
This new range of ‘Super Grip’ tape comes in red, blue and black and has numerous applications for use. It can be cut to any size and applied onto surfaces where a comfortable and stabilized grip is required. For example, the tape can be wrapped around the handles of crutches, walkers and other types of mobility equipment, to increase surface friction and prevent rubbing and chaffing against the skin.
Eva Paraskevaides from Dycem said;
“The new super grip tapes have been developed to provide a cushioned non-slip, built-up grip. The tapes can be easily cut to size to provide an easy, comfortable grip solution for mobility equipment. The grips are also super absorbent and have an extra-long life which makes them ideal for use on items such as crutch handles where continued pressure from the hands is applied to the surface”.
Dycem’s non-slip products are multi-purpose, long-lasting, easy-to-clean and non-toxic. Their forty-nine-year heritage makes Dycem a valued and trusted brand amongst healthcare professionals, occupational therapists, physical therapists and consumers alike.
A recent study has found that health care professionals are the group most likely to be injured at work. The CDC, the US’s health protection agency, found that patient handling was the main cause of these injuries. Studies have also found that manual handling accidents account for half of all sickness absence for NHS staff, leading to 1.5 million lost working days costing the NHS £400 million per year.
Everyday, thousands of nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and other healthcare professionals perform patient handling tasks. This may be general handling tasks, such as transferring a patient from a bed to a wheelchair, or during rehabilitation exercises. These physically demanding tasks can be made easier with the right tools, making it safer for patients and caregivers.
Many healthcare professionals are already using Dycem Non-Slip every day to make patient handling and movement easier and safer for all. The unique gripping properties of our Dycem non-slip products can help enable health care workers to move clients safely and keep them in place, avoiding the need for repositioning. Dycem Non-Slip products are available in a range of colours, perfect for providing visual cues and contrasting colours for those with visual impairments.
Safe patient handling with Dycem Non-Slip
Popular ways that Dycem is used to help with patient handling include:
• Using on the floor to provide grip and to prevent feet giving way
• Helping with sit-to-stand activities
• Using on wheelchair footrests and seats to prevent clients slipping down
• Placing under a wobble board and under foam for balance activities so that clients don’t slide and fall
• Using Dycem as a marker on the floor for patients to walk in tandem gait
• Placing under a sliding board and transferring patients from bed to beside commode
• Using on parallel bars to provide extra grip, stability and visual markers
• Using Dycem to keep hold of patients when mobilising, providing excellent grip for hard to hold onto areas.
• Using Dycem reel material on grab bars for transfers
• Using on beds and under pillows to prevent slipping and help with positioning
• Using Dycem for upper extremity weight baring exercise to help hands to stay in place
Training is effective in preventing injuries and tools like Dycem can certainly help provide stability and safer handling. We would love to hear any ideas or comments on how Dycem is helping you with patient handling.
Study sources:
http://www.apta.org/PTinMotion/News/2015/6/24/PatientHandlingInjuries/
http://www.leicspart.nhs.uk/Library/PatientHandlingUpdateHandout2012.pdf
College of Occupational Therapists Exhibition 2015
The College of Occupational Therapists will be holding their 39th annual conference and exhibition 30th June -2nd July, in the Brighton Centre on Brighton’s famous promenade.
The Dycem Non-Slip team are looking forward to exhibiting at this year’s event for the third year running.
We see it as a golden opportunity to meet with thought leaders from the world of occupational therapy; an extremely varied and ever-evolving profession.
The Conference programme is full of motivating speakers and topics to improve clinical practice. Dycem looks forward to hearing delegate’s inspiring stories about how the non-slip products improve their clients’ lives.
We’ll be setting-up at stand number 1 in the main exhibition hall, spreading awareness of the Dycem Non-Slip range and selling our products from the stand. Make sure you keep an eye-out for some exclusive exhibition offers!
‘Keep Calm I’m an Occupational Therapist’ Coasters
In previous years, our ‘Keep Calm I’m an Occupational Therapist’ coasters have been a huge success with OT’s. We’ll make sure we bring plenty of these to give away this year, as well as goodie bags containing, brochures, pens and discount codes for an extra 10% off the Dycem web store!
Occupational Therapist, Jen Cave-Ayland will also be joining us. She will be on-hand to demonstrate the versatility of Dycem Non-Slip and offer advice on using it as a tool for therapy.
Be sure to come and visit if you are attending and tell us how you use Dycem for a chance to win a special prize in a competition we will be running during the show.
Also, if you would like to get in touch with us to set up a meeting during the exhibition, contact Eva Paraskevaides on 0117 9548 701 or email nonslip(at)dycem.com.
