Stand, Sit, Climb, Floor Lift, and Bath Lowering Devices Buying Guide
Carrying Mom from the bed to the bathroom can hurt you both. It’s dangerous and awkward. It’s time for devices to help Mom get up, climb up, stand up and sit down
10 Ways to Safely Climb Stairs, Get Into the Bath, Get off the Floor, Walk, Sit and Stand
Use a transport device to get Mom from room to room within the home. Get the device measurements before buying. The right fit will keep Mom safe, and make your life 100x easier.
Red Light Therapy for Dementia
Red Light Therapy (RLT) is the use of light for health. Several published studies show that RLT improves mood, memory, and cognition. Some case studies using RLT on Alzheimer’s patients discussed how much easier life was for caregivers after their patients received RLT.
What Kind of Shower Chair Works Best for Seniors?
Sometimes just standing is hard to do. It can cause back pain and leg aches. You should not put a household chair in a shower or tub. It will ruin the chair, and it might be unstable. The bathroom is the last place you want to introduce a falling hazard.
Best Fall Prevention Books & Info
Books that give you a checklist of why, how and what to change in your home to prevent falling.
Use a Patient Transfer Device for Standing Assistance
A patient transport is a tall device on wheels that a caretaker uses to move the patient from place to place. It takes the place of a wheelchair as it is usually narrower and fits through doorways. In a transport, the patient stays relatively vertical, with a seat and kneepads to lean against. Some transports require that the user have some strength and stability to get onto the device, while others automate the lift with a hydraulic motor and sling.
How a Toilet Rail Helps You Sit and Stand in the Bathroom
A toilet rail is a metal frame surrounding the toilet that gives you stable arms to grasp and use for leverage when sitting down on or getting up from the toilet.
How a Lift Chair Helps You Sit Down and Stand Up
When you sit down on a lift chair, you bend your legs less than when sitting on a regular chair. When you stand up from a lift chair, you need less leg strength than you do getting up from a regular chair. So the lift chair offers both standing and sitting assistance. Lift chairs are also recliners. Some have massage and heat. Some are “wall huggers” that don’t require a ton of room in the back to recline. Some recline to a horizontal position, and some only to about 140 degrees.
Best Bidet (to Wash and Prevent Falls) for Mom
If you dropped chocolate pudding on the floor, would you clean it up with a dry tissue? Of course not! The best way to clean after going to the toilet is to use water. A bidet is a toilet device that you use to clean yourself after going. Using a bidet isn’t just more hygenic. The shower is a common place for nasty falls. When you remove the shower from the equation, you raise your chances of not falling.
Best Toilet Stand-Assist Devices for Mom
I definitely prefer the toilet frame design that sits on the floor, and not the one that sits on the toilet bowl under the seat. The floor variety is more stable. If you push down harder on one side than the other, the toilet prevents the frame from tilting over. The floor variety is also easier to clean because it’s not literally on the toilet bowl.
Grandma Gift Finder
The ultimate grandma gift is this robot pet cat. All the affection, none of the poop or allergies.
Best Patient Transfer Device
If the patient can pull herself up from a sitting position (or use a chair lift to do so) then the best budget patient transport is the Lumex Stand Assist. This is the transport device with the cushy built-in seat that moving up to a 400 lb. person relatively easy for the caregiver. If the patient cannot lift herself at all, or if you are picking up a patient on the floor, then the best choice is the Hi-Fortune Patient Lift. It includes the carrying sling, locking casters, and carries 450 lb.
How Preventing a Hip Fracture Can Save Your Life
I didn’t realize how close we were to the end when yet another fall resulted in my aunt’s broken hip. That hip fracture was the beginning of the end.
Do Bed Alarms Prevent Falls?
A bed alarm alerts a caregiver when the patient is getting up from bed, chair, or the toilet. Bed alarms prevent falls by calling the caregiver to intervene. I call the Bed Alarm the “Mom needs help but refuses to ask for it alarm.”
How to Prevent Mom from Falling
Do balance, strength, and posture exercises to keep yourself strong and upright. De-clutter your home to avoid tripping. Re-arrange furniture to make wide paths.