Hello Everyone. This section is all about looking into body hoists or lifts. A body hoist or lift is essentially the same. The words hoist and lift are used interchangeably. So, please do not be confused. It;s always a challenge finding quality equipment for the home than works well and is affordable. In addition, the equipment must be intuitive when it comes to use.

Hydraulic Patient Lifts                     

There are many types and brands of body hoists or lifts. The costs are very broad depending on brand of equipment, application, weight and size of the person.

Portable Handicap Lifts

When looking into some lifts than offer portability. Do not think than the hoist or lift is going to fold into some small. The function of these lifts need space in order to work properly and hold the patient up without falling over on any of its sides. So, the overall footprint is generally still big. It needs to be. When looking at many of the lifts in a folded position, it does take less space for sure, but do not believe you can just tuck it away like a chair.

Patient Lift Swings

The word swing here means a fabric or mesh like material than is designed to with stand a great amount of weight. The patient would be seated or partially laying in the swing and hanging from the hoist or lift. There are many styles of swings you can purchase depending on what functions you’re trying to achieve. For example, there are swings designed for lifting a patient from a seated position and have them be able to be seated on a toilet or commode. Also, there are swings to take a person from a standing position (called a standing swing) and move them around to have them be moved from chair to chair, bed to sofa and sofa to bathroom. Furthermore, there are swings than are designed to give a lot of back support and hold your legs individually. This type is called a split leg swing. It’s commonly used for people than need to be move quickly and often. The most common swings used are called the full body swings. They work great. The good and the bad with this type is the time put into getting the patient into the swing before raising them up with the lift or hoist. It’s not necessarily hard, but it just takes more time. Also, you need to be more conscientious of how the patient is laying in the swing when being lifted. So, you don’t accidentally curl them up too much and cause discomfort or injury when transferring them from one place to another.

Calling on a professional for help

It’s always a good thing to get a little help in the beginning when using any form of equipment. A professional who has used these types of tools can offer some coaching and guidance as to how to handle a live person within the swing and lifting with a hoist. Many times when purchasing these types of tools; you can ask the company than selling the product to send a video tutorial, an in house visit from a person to show you how to use it, ask a state sponsored therapist to stop by for some guidance or stop by a local nursing home for a little lesson on what to look for and pay attention to. People are usually very helpful and want to help when it comes to helping a person at home.

Conclusion

You can always buy all kinds of equipment for your home to look after the ones you love. I have personally purchased some, borrowed some from local rehabilitation hospitals than have a borrowing policy and received some equipment through Medicare and Medicaid. I urge anyone to be resourceful when it comes to getting help through their local areas and receive different types of medical equipment from low to no cost. Every state has some kind of programs than can give aid to people who want to keep their loved ones at home. From the states’ perspective, it becomes cheaper and more cost effective to keep patients at home rather than at a rehabilitation facility or a nursing home. It is a more healthy life for the patients than stay home. Mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically the patients tend to be more happy within the surroundings they are accustom to. When taking care of my mother who had Alzheimer, dementia and Parkinson disease, having her at home was difficult, but a blessing for her and me. Nothing in life is easy. Making a commitment to someone you love is tiring at times, but the smile on their faces is a ray of sunshine than touches your soul. The simple things in life are what people come back to for happiness. Things like food, drink, a smile, conversations a little television and having some companies stop by to say hello. Please folks, never for to be human. We are all going to get old some day. I have always tried to be compassionate to everyone. Find something you can have in common with the person you are taking care of and enjoy a little time with them I understand it is not easy. To be loving and caring takes patience and effort on many levels. Do not give up on your loved ones. If things get difficult, search out alternative ways to get help. Sometimes, you can get help through you local churches, friends, other relative and some professional groups. I made a promise to my mother when taking care of her. I told her she would always stay home as long as it wasn’t harming her or I could get enough help to manage her healthcare. Towards the end, it was too difficult to take care of help with the live in help I had. Also, I was starting to notice I was hurting her more than helping her by keeping her home. I received a great piece of advice. I should manage her care and the people caring for daily as opposed to trying to do it myself. At home, the care givers and I were consistently getting injured badly. Also, getting quality at home caregivers was getting more and more difficult. So, I was forced to put my mom in a nursing home than was about 100 yards from my home. I was managing her care closely and visiting her daily. She was unhappy at first, but got happier withing a couple of weeks. If you ever like to reach out to me, please do not hesitate for guidance on any level. 

 Thank you for allowing me to help you. 

 Art