Stairlifts as a Means of Improving Safety and Accessibility

Stairlifts are a lifting tool used, in most cases, in the home to make it easier and safer for someone to use the staircase. This type of home medical equipment is used to carry someone with limited mobility up the stairway, to help reduce the risk of falls. While most are designed for a single user, stairlifts for wheelchairs are also available, as well as a few standing models, although the former are typically used in commercial settings.

The average staircase in the home can be outfitted with this type of stairlift, as several do-it-yourself kits are avaiable that can be installed relatively easily. The exception to this is curved staircases that have an actual circular bend to them, as these will need a custom built stairlift that can be very expensive and must be, generally, installed by a professional stairlift technician.

Wheelchair Ramps and Exterior Staircase Accessibility

When making a home more accessible, allowing for the user to safely enter and exit the home is essential. For those that use wheelchairs, walkers, or otherwise have difficulty getting around, navigating the front porch can be very difficult.

While there are a number of tools that can help make this exterior stairway easier to navigate, including outdoor stair lifts and vertical platform lifts, a wheelchair ramp is the most common and, often, least expensive device that can be installed to improve accessibility.

A stair lift, as well as other tools offer a number of advantages, but it is hard to beat the simplicity of a wheelchair ramp. Modular metal wheelchair ramps can be quite pricey, often a lot more than you would pay for an outdoor stair lift, but a wooden wheelchair ramp ends up being a cost effective solution. When built properly with quality materials, a wooden wheelchair ramp will last much longer than a stair lift and require less regular maintence.

Options for Improving Staircase Accessibility

The stairs present a very real and difficult obstacle to not just people who use wheelchairs, but also those who are affected by mobility related disorders, like arthritis. improving staircase safety quite literally starts at home and is driven by the individual needs of the individual. Depending on their abilities and needs, you can formulate a plan to help increase accessibility and improve safety.

Staircase Safety Tips for Seniors

For seniors and others with limited mobility, increasing staircase safety is quite important. There are a number of things, some of which are common sense and rather inexpensive, that can make the stairs not only safer, but also easier to use for the elderly. These safety tips focus on this goal of increasing safety and reducing the risk of a fall on the stairs, which is one of the most dangerous areas in the home for a senior.

Understanding and Mitigating the Staircase Risks

In the home, few areas present as many risks or are the cause of as many injuries as the staircase. For the elderly, falls on the stairs are exceptionally common and very often cause serious injury. These sorts of injuries, such as a broken hip, can be very hard to recover from for the elderly, with over 50% requiring some sort of assisted living situation after a serious injury. This is why preventing these falls is so important.

There is no single factor or tool that can be used to prevent falls on the stairs, with a multi-pronged approach being the safest and most effective. This involves understanding the abilities of the senior, ensuring the staircase is in good repair, and potentially using tools or equipment to make the stairs safer. However, in some cases, the best option may be to simply avoid the stairs, as even tools like the stair lift can be difficult to use for some seniors.

Choosing the Right Lifting Aid

Selecting the right type of lifting aid is not a decision that should be taken lightly and there are many factors that go into choosing the best type of home medical equipment. It is important to consider the needs of the user, as well as the budget, and location where the device will be installed. Stair lifts, residential elevators, and inclined platform lifts all offer certain advantages and disadvantages, so it is important to understand how they work and function in order to select the best device for your needs.

Selecting the Right Type of Stair Lift

Stair lifts can make it much easier for the elderly to use a staircase. These devices carry a person up or down the staircase, either by providing a seat or small platform. For those who use wheelchairs or mobility scooters, there is also a special type of stairlift available.

It is important to consider what the needs of the patient are, as well as the different types of stair lifts available in order to select the best stair lift.

Using a Stair Lift to Improve Senior Safety

The stairs can be difficult to use for people of all ages, but they are most dangerous to the elderly. It is very common for accidents to occur on the stairs and due to their design, these often result in broken bones or other very serious injuries to occur as the result of a fall on the stairs. To help make these devices easier to use, some people use stair lifts, commonly called stair chairs, to ensure that the staircase can be used safely and independently.

Understanding Why and How to Use a Stair Chair

For seniors and others who have reduced mobility, the stairs present a very dangerous obstacle. Falls on the stairs are often quite serious and can result in injuries that, for a senior, are very difficult to recover from. Using the stairs is often simply not an option and is one of the reasons that many of the elderly move to an assisted living facility.

However, retirement villages are very expensive and mean giving up a lot of freedom, so sometimes a stair lift is a better alternative.

A Stair Lift Primer

In the home, a staircase presents a risk to those who are elderly or mobility challenged. They can also be quite difficult to use, which is why some people require a staircase safety device, such as a stair lift. The stair lift offers a safety solution that is low cost and often requires only a little modification to the home. In contrast to a home elevator or even a wheelchair lift, a stair lift provides a significantly smaller investment, but can provide a similar service.

A stair lift, either one that uses a chair or a platform, can be used by most seniors, but also provide a tool for caregivers who need to move someone between floors.