Whether you realise it or not, comfort and well-being go hand in hand.
This can be the case in anything from having the best ergonomic chair Australia has ever seen or quality bed rails Aged Care facilities use.
The comfort of your body is linked to your health in more ways than one and especially in the case of chairs. Each of us is spending more time than ever in a seated position, whether at a desk or table, and the choice of chair we use is crucial to our well-being.
If you think about it for just a minute, you will realise just how long you spend sitting down throughout the day. Often this can be a wake-up call to be more active and to ensure that you take a break from your chair and walk around.
Sitting for extended periods has been linked to a number of different ailments and health problems. According to the Victorian Government website – the Better Health channel – the lack of physical activity is the second highest cause of cancer in Australia. It is no surprise that sitting for long periods is considered the new ‘smoking’.
With reference to the problem, it states that sitting or lying down for a longer time period can increase the risk of chronic health problems.
This is an alarming finding that should help make people more aware of their use of time and how even a small break from the desk or screen time can be beneficial to their health.
Even reading this now, it’s a good idea to take a break and go for even a short walk to get your body moving again.
Chairs and equipment
When it comes to office chairs, Australia has come a long way from the late 1940s to today’s innovative options. It’s no surprise that Australians are now known for adopting the latest in stylish and health-conscious chairs.
There are some circumstances where a simple chair is more important than purely something to help someone to sit.
There are some cases where a chair has a greater bearing on someone’s health than others. It is not unusual for those returning to work after a workplace injury to require special equipment, and one of the most crucial is ergonomic equipment such as a chair and table or desk.
Being able to sit comfortably and work effectively at a desk is vital to many administrative roles.
There are even occasions where such office equipment is part of specific workplace policies and procedures.
Equipment in the workplace
With the rise of ergonomic furniture in the workplace came the rise in how adaptable special furnishings and equipment needed to be.
This was especially important in the workplace and various settings within the health industry, such as hospitals and Aged Care.
Medical devices and equipment have seen a great deal of research and development going into how to help increase the level of comfort and care for patients in these environments.
Beyond the patients themselves, there has been a steady increase in specialised medical equipment sales.
The list of items includes everything from adjustable beds and bariatric equipment to bed and safety rails that protect the patient and allow carers to attend to other patients.
There are medical products available today which improve the quality of life for those people with a chronic illness or disability. These special living aids products give patients the ability to be more independent, active and enjoy more freedom.
This can have profound effects on their physical and mental state.
Moving with the times
Taking in the challenges of different changes to how we live and behave is integral to keeping everyone safe and healthy.
This is never as obvious as it should be. While we might concentrate on our personal gain and monetary reward in something such as a wage review, we should also think of how our work/life balance is being affected.
It is not enough to think of our success or how well we are doing from a purely financial standpoint. Many people are working longer hours than ever, despite the advances in technology and the ability to work from home.
These longer hours can often mean that work eats into more of our days, and there is less time to devote to being active and less attention to looking after our well-being.
Self-awareness and self-care
It’s a fact that self-awareness and self-care must work together.
If you are not self-aware, then you will always have a limited chance of improving your health. Even adopting the most stringent methods and putting numerous hours into the care of your mind and body can be wasted if that care is inappropriate.
It’s all about putting the right practices in place and looking at the cause and effect of specific things that we are doing.
This goes back to important but mundane matters like how someone sits at a desk, for how long and in what sort of position.
An example would be that you are sitting at a dining table on a dining chair, and you try to do a full day’s work of roughly 8 hours.
Whilst that chair is designed for sitting at the table for a period of some hours, it is not specific to sitting for a long time throughout the day. No dining chair would meet all the requirements for classification as being ‘ergonomic’.
Even a standard office chair and desk may be suitable for the work required, but the person should and must leave that seated position for regular breaks, or they are likely to develop bad posture and bad habits.
The next time you sit down at your office desk or home office space, take a few minutes to consider how comfortable and well-positioned you are. Then work out how often you take a break and walk around or move somewhere else.
You will be surprised at how little you do move throughout your working day. It is something that can help you live a healthier lifestyle and be more productive in the process.