For many seniors, the onset of arthritis and other diseases more common among the elderly greatly reduce mobility. This can make it much more difficult to walk for an extended period of time, get up out of a chair, and use the staircase. Of the difficulties faced by a person with arthritis or other type of mobility limiting disease, using the staircase safely presents one of the biggest obstacles.
There are more than a few ways of making the stairs easier to use, including adding extra hand rails, installing a non-skid staircase runner, or simply avoiding the stairs, but the most effective method often is installing a stair lift.
Stair lifts are a type of lifting aid installed directly onto a staircase to make the stairs easier and safer for an elderly individual or other person who has trouble walking. Stair lifts come in a number of different shapes and sizes, but typically use a motorized chair to move the individual up the staircase. This is one reason many people refer to stair lifts as stair chairs.
Most stair chairs for straight stairways can be installed easily by the homeowner, which is a great way to save money, often saving several thousand on professional installation costs alone. It also makes increasing the safety of your staircase happen much more rapidly, as often the stair chair can be shipped in less than a week, while if you were waiting for a professional installer, you might not be able to get the stair chair installed so rapidly. It is important to ensure that the stair chair is designed for self installation though, but there are several stair lift manufacturers that offer these types of lifts.
At its most basic, most stair chairs share a very similar design. A metal track, often made out of an aluminum alloy to decrease weight, is first attached to the staircase. In the case of a wooden staircase, the track is simply screwed onto the steps. A brick or concrete staircase, however will require a special type of screw and anchors, but it is still a very simply process. Once the stair lift track is installed, the stair lift car is attached to the track.
The stair lift car is what does all the work or carrying the user up and down the staircase, usually consisting of an electrical motor and plastic chair. On battery powered stair lifts, the stair lift car also contains one, or in some cases multiple, rechargeable batteries.
There are a few types of special stair lifts, which operate in a very similar manner, but are designed for those who are unable to use a standard stair chair. For example, perch lifts are used by those who can not safely sit down in a chair, such as someone who has just had a hip replacement surgery. Instead of sitting down, the user will step onto a small platform, called a perch, and be carried up the staircase while they are standing. Of course, this requires more balance to use than a standard stair chair, so is not a good choice for most users.
Another type of special stair lift is the inclined platform lift, which also offers a platform instead of a chair, but in the case of an incline platform lift, the platform is large enough for a wheelchair to be driven onto it. Depending on the model of inclined platform lift, the platform will either be enclosed by walls or metal bars to prevent the wheelchair user from moving off the platform until it has reached the staircase landing. While a very popular type of wheelchair lift and often a great deal more cost effective than installing an elevator, incline platform lifts do take up a good deal of space on the staircase.
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