Brandrud Cente Patient Chair

What's In It For You

Product Story

Moving patients into and out of a chair is strenuous work that too often causes strain and injury—to both caregiver and patient. The lightweight and comfortable Centé Tilt chair reduces the physical effort required of caregivers when moving a patient from standing to seated and back to standing positions.

For patients, the chair's comfort and advanced ergonomic design have a positive effect on body and mind, fostering a sense of well being just when they need it most.

Safe Patient Handling

Patient handling tasks are the primary cause of musculoskeletal disorders among nurses, 38% of whom suffer occupation-related back pain severe enough to require leave from work.

Increasing patient and caregiver safety were paramount objectives in designing the Centé Tilt chair. Both goals are met with an innovative, easy-to-use shift-control mechanism.
When a patient needs to stand up, the shift-control mechanism lifts and repositions the patient's center of gravity, reducing the caregiver's effort in lifting the patient up and out.

When a patient needs to sit down, an elevated forward incline, reduces the distance between standing and sitting in the chair, and the patient can sit more easily and safely with less support from a caregiver.
The shift-control handle is large, soft, and easy for the caregiver to grasp. The chair arms swing up and out of the way, giving caregivers full access to their patients. The arms lock in both the upright and down positions.

Patient Comfort and Support

Tilt technology. A tilt mechanism allows for a 10-degree recline, to reduce pressure on the spine and keep the seated patient relaxed. When the patient leans back, feet stay flat on the floor and the front edge of the seat doesn't rise, so blood flow in the thighs isn't restricted.
Pressure management. The Centé Tilt seat and back suspension surfaces reduce spinal pressure and disperse body pressure evenly over the chair's seat and back.

Air circulation. The permeable mesh seat and knit back provide therapeutic benefit by letting air pass through the materials. The air circulation eliminates body heat build-up and helps maintain circulation around wound areas.

Centé Flex

A less expensive model, the Centé Flex, in place of the tilt system on the Tilt model, has a flex system based on resilient urethane springs. These springs position the seat at a 2-degree recline for better posture, and, dependent upon weight, reclines an additional 6 to 10 degrees. With light pressure, the back flexes moderately for therapeutic comfort.
As with the Tilt model, when a patient leans back in the Flex chair, feet stay flat on the floor and the front edge of the seat doesn't rise, so blood flow in the thighs isn't restricted. The Centé Flex also provides the same pressure management and air circulation benefits as the Tilt model.

Useful Options

A headrest and ottoman are options for all Centé chairs. An integral headrest reduces the need for separate pillows and other attachments. An ottoman made from the same mesh material as the seat is available, allowing the chair to accommodate the maximum number of body heights and types. It can be stowed under the chair when not in use.

Rear casters may be specified to make moving the chair easier.
Standard options include the polyester mesh seat in warm grey and a soft polyester knit back available in several colors. Seats and backs may be specified in a wide range of vinyl and polyurethane fabrics from Maharam, a textile manufacturer with a range of fabrics especially suited for healthcare environments.

Easy to Clean

All parts of Centé chairs are easy to clean and sanitize. The seat and back elements disassemble easily, to simplify routine cleaning and maintenance. Fabrics withstand cleaning with strong disinfectants.

Centé Tilt weights just 50 pounds, and the Flex model weighs 45 pounds, so both can be moved easily on optional rear casters to facilitate room cleaning.

The disturbingly high rate of caregiver injury related to patient handling—along with intensive, research-based studies—influenced the design of the Centé chairs, so that these chairs are intended to improve caregiver safety and retention.

Brandrud, the Auburn, Washington-based healthcare furnishings manufacturer, collaborated on the designs with parent company Herman Miller, textile manufacturer Maharam, David Ritch and Mark Saffell of 5D Studio, and infection control consultant Debra Harris.
Centé Tilt was designed with a mechanical forward tilt that allows the patient to be positioned in such a way that he or she can get into and out of the chair without a caregiver having to pull the patient forward physically. This feature reduces both the potential shearing of the patient's skin and potential musculoskeletal strain on the caregiver.
Several additional criteria influenced the chair's design: comfort; the fact that the size of the average patient continues to increase; ease of use; and scale. Lee Falck, co-president of Brandrud, says, "The result is a streamlined chair with a supportive polyester mesh fabric, the ability to support patients up to 350 pounds, and controls that make the healing process easier for the patient and the caregiver."

Centé chairs are appropriate for use in surgical and post-surgical treatment rooms, medical patient rooms, and in-patient rehabilitation patient rooms.