The objective of this study is to measure the incidence rate of pressure ulcers (cat. III-IV, including Deep Tissue Injury and unstageable pressure ulcers) on the CuroCell A4 CX20 mattress (Care of Sweden). Secondly, we will study the pressure ulcer (cat. III-IV) healing in the sacral area on this mattress. We will also evaluate the experience and perceptions of participants about comfort. The CuroCell A4 CX20 is a new, fully automated alternating pressure system. The CuroCell A4 mattress has three program modes: alternating, pulsation and constant low pressure (CLP). The mattress will be tested in de CLP mode.
Prof. dr. Dimitri Beeckman holds a BSc. in Nursing, an MSc. in Nursing and Midwifery, an MSc. in Education, and a PhD from Ghent University in Belgium. His doctoral thesis focused on pressure ulcer prevention and management of Incontinence- Associated Dermatitis (IAD). In 2010, he became a lecturer at the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery at King’s College London in the UK. Currently, he works as a Professor of Skin Integrity and Clinical Nursing at the University Centre of Nursing and Midwifery at Ghent University in Belgium. He is a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Surrey (Guilford, UK) and at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (Dublin, Ireland). Prof. Beeckman is Executive Board Member of the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP) and serves as Chair of the Scientific Committee since 2013. He also co- chairs the EPUAP Education Workstream. In 2016, he was a member of the International Scientific Committee of the World Union of Wound Healing Societies Conference. In March 2017, he chaired the 1st European Pressure Ulcer Prevention and Management Masterclass in Ghent. He is specialized in skin integrity research, clinical trials, healthcare education, implementation science and instrument development and validation. In 2013-2014, he authored the Belgian guidelines for pressure ulcer prevention and treatment (supported by the Belgian Healthcare Knowledge Centre, KCE). In 2015, he authored the International Best Practice Document about prevention and management of Incontinence- Associated Dermatitis, published by Wounds International. He acts as policy advisor of the Belgian Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety, and Environment. He authored and co- authored over 80 scientific publications in international peer- reviewed journals. He presented his research in > 50 countries all over the world. He is Consulting Editor of the Journal of Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing, the Journal of Tissue Viability, as well as Associate Editor of BMC Geriatrics. Prof. Beeckman holds different Fellowships such as Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing and the European Academy of Nursing Science.
Charlotte Anrys is a researcher at the University Centre of Nursing and Midwifery. She holds a BSc. in Nursing and a MSc. in Nursing and Midwifery. Her previous research focused on the use of static air support devices (Repose®) in the prevention of pressure ulcers in a high risk nursing home population. She is currently investigating the use of a constant low pressure system (CuroCell® A4 CX20) in the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers in Belgian nursing homes.