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You think you’re doing everything right for the safety and care of your clients. Day in and day out you take measures to wash your hands, wipe down surfaces and more. However, one of the most common hygiene solutions you’re relying on is letting you down — the bed cover.
According to the Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare, any equipment shared among clients should first be sanitised with a disinfecting agent and then covered with a single-use physical protection barrier between each client.
Before developing the BodyShield, we rigorously trialled and tested every alternative product on the market — from towels to fitted sheets to paper rolls — carefully evaluating their pros and cons. This process clarified our goal: to maximise the advantages and eliminate the drawbacks.
We looked at the following criteria: hygiene, cost vs quality, comfort, storage and access, staff efficiency and recycling. Here’s what we found.
It may be single use but the paper roll typically tears during treatment. Similarly, towels and bed linen will often move during therapy. In each case large areas of the therapy bed become uncovered and contaminated. Without protecting the entire therapy bed, clients are exposed to germs and bacteria.
Therefore, it was crucial the BodyShield itself provided full coverage of the therapy bed AND stayed in place for the duration of the therapy session. To ensure the latter, we developed our Sticky Strips — versatile hook and loop strips designed to attach to the underside of each end of the therapy bed, ensuring the BodyShield stays put. These strips can be cut to size and even fit beds with a horseshoe cradle!
And although it can be argued that single-use fitted sheets provide full coverage and generally remain in place during therapy, a bacterial filtration efficiency of only 21% was returned when tested. The BodyShield presented nearly four times better, with a score of 81%, using the same test.
But we didn’t stop there! With compliance to hand hygiene in healthcare professionals as low as 30% (on occasion), our focus shifted to ensuring the BodyShield could be fitted without manual handling of the areas that make contact with a client. (See Storage and Access below.)
The age-old conundrum… how to make something that’s cost effective without compromising on quality.
There are several factors that determine the end price of a product, the cost of labour being one of them. By automating the manufacturing process we were able to reduce labour costs, which in turn meant we could spend more on higher-quality fabric, while still achieving a more cost-effective product.
The purchase price of the BodyShield is less than the laundering costs associated with any fabric option and it’s also less expensive than the alternative fitted bed sheets (both single use and disposable).
Paper is rough against the skin and can be quite irritating. Not only that but the sound of rustling certainly doesn’t make for a relaxing experience.
As a service provider, we understand customer experience is the difference between a client returning or looking elsewhere. During market research we had customers compare our BodyShield with the alternatives and 93% preferred the BodyShield for hygiene and comfort, with 56% stating they would even be willing to pay for it.
While testing the alternatives, we started to wonder where therapists store their clean/unused towels or bed linen or paper rolls. After all, they’d be getting through a lot of them each day.
This is when the team at Purifas had a eureka moment and our BodyShield Dispenser was born — a sturdy piece of equipment that houses a roll of BodyShields, keeping them clean, neatly out of the way but always within arm’s reach. How many alternative products provide these three features simultaneously?
Frontline staff are already overworked and under pressure, and we wanted to help where we could. The BodyShield is so easy to apply that it can be done by the time the alternative product has been brought to the room — allowing frontline staff to do what they do best… care for their clients.
Ensuring the BodyShield was recyclable was non-negotiable for Purifas:
The BodyShield is made from polypropylene and is 100% recyclable.
Towels command a huge amount of water and energy to clean daily — a standard washing machine uses anywhere between 60 and 130 litres of water per load. This means they’re not particularly environmentally friendly and, not only that, researchers have found that even hospital grade laundering is insufficient in removing 100% of contaminants from towels.
That's simply not sustainable.
The Purifas BodyShield is:
Across various therapies — massage, acupuncture, physiotherapy, Bowen therapy, chiropractic, osteopathy, and more — a popular industry solution is failing your duty of care, customer experience and the environment.
Launched in 2022, our BodyShield is setting a new standard in hygiene practice. It’s time to swap to the Purifas BodyShield.
Order your BodyShield online today! If you'd like to experience the fabric quality or see how the BodyShield fits your bed, why not order a free sample?
REFERENCES
Ensuring top-notch hygiene in therapy and allied health settings is vital for client safety. Shared equipment can easily lead to cross-contamination without strict hygiene protocols. Towels, frequently used in these environments, can harbour bacteria even after washing, posing risks to both clients and therapists. This guide will help you understand these risks, avoid common mistakes and implement the best hygiene practices, all while being environmentally conscious.
