Fall Lift Assist Devices

jmjones1us

My husband has been falling lately at home and it is hard for me to get him up. I have been able to except for two days ago and had to call EMT's. Has anyone used a portable power lift like this to assist?

mommyandme (m&m)

I have not but I was thinking about getting something. I cared for my mother who was shorter than I so often I was able to get her up. As she deteriorated she’d help in the process less. Often I had to call my husband for help and I also called EMTs once. Fortunately, she usually went to the ground with someone there who could help with her descent (syncope), she never had a catastrophic fall in other words.

One of my first thoughts while reading your post is what kind of strength and capabilities does your husband have now? Is his strength enough to help you while you use a device? Like pulling with his arms such as with a Sit to Stand device? The devices can be quite costly. We have a wonderful used medical equipment store here that I used for some things. Have you had an evaluation with hospice? If he’s falling more he may qualify for their services. If so, they will provide some equipment along with many other things, which are covered by Medicare. (With dementia, hospice doesn’t mean there’s only 6 mos left of life. My mom was on for 1.75 years.) Maybe they might be able to help with this falling issue too.

Im very sorry for this journey you’re on with your husband. Keep coming back, there’s lots of support here. You might even post in the Spouse/Partner caregiver section.

loveskitties

Check this out on Amazon.

MAIDeSITe Electric Chair Lift, Get Up from Floor, Floor Lift, Can be Raised to 20” Help You Stand Up Again, Weight Limit 300 LBS, Item Weight 30 LBS

Kibbee

I use a Hoyer Lift for my DH. It allows me to easily move him on and off the bed, into / out of his wheelchair or on/off a commode toilet. The boom lowers enough that I can use it to lift DH up from the floor, which I’ve had to do a few times. DH is about 200 lbs and over 6 feet tall, and even though he is larger than me I can easily manage operate the lift.

Medicare covered the cost of the lift. Medicare will only pay for non-electric lifts so I have to hand crank the hydraulic arm up and down. That turned out to be an easy thing to do, so I was glad I went the Medicare route rather than private pay $3000 for an electric lift.

You need a physician’s order for the equipment in order for Medicare to cover it, plus you need to work with a Medicare approved vendor. To get our order we had a face-to-face visit with DH’s neurologist for an evaluation, plus a therapist come to our house to do an assessment to determine the proper size sling. As a result of the in-home assessment the therapist added a hospital bed to the order, which has been a great help.

A note about Sit To Stand machines. The person using them needs to be weight bearing. I took DH to a DME showroom to try one. As soon as he was in it I could tell it wasn’t right for him, as he was hanging from the sling rather than bearing his weight on his legs. So we passed on that and went directly to the Hoyer Lift. So glad we did because it is the single most important tool that is allowing me to continue to care for DH at home.