As our loved ones age, ensuring their safety and comfort becomes a top priority. Power lift recliners can be invaluable tools in achieving this goal, offering a blend of relaxation and mobility assistance. These remarkable chairs can help older individuals maintain independence, especially when simple tasks like standing from a seated position become challenging due to various factors, including balance issues, arthritis, muscle weakness, and post-surgery recovery. Power lift chairs provide a gradual transition from a seated to a standing position, making transfers easier and reducing the risk of accidents. Furthermore, they offer the added benefit of reclining, which can be helpful for those needing leg elevation due to circulation problems.
While power lift recliners offer numerous advantages, it’s essential to prioritize safety when incorporating them into your home. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the safe usage of power lift recliners, addressing common hazards and providing practical tips to ensure the well-being of seniors and caregivers.
Benefits of Power Lift Recliners
Power lift recliners are versatile pieces of furniture that offer various benefits, primarily aimed at enhancing the quality of life for seniors and individuals with mobility challenges. These benefits include:
- Enhanced Independence: Power lift recliners enable seniors to maintain a degree of independence, allowing them to rise from a seated position without assistance.
- Pain Relief: They provide relief from a range of physical ailments, including arthritis, leg discomfort, back pain, and muscle stiffness.
- Improved Mobility: For individuals with balance issues or neurological disorders that limit movement, power lift chairs facilitate safer and more comfortable transfers.
- Post-Surgery Recovery: After surgery, these chairs can aid in the recovery process by assisting patients in standing and sitting with minimal strain.
- Leg Elevation: Power lift recliners can elevate the legs, benefiting those with circulation problems.
- Caregiver Assistance: These chairs reduce the number of transfers requiring caregiver assistance, lowering the caregiver burden.
- Injury Prevention: By providing support during transfers, power lift recliners reduce the risk of falls and injuries for both seniors and caregivers.
Are Power Lift Recliners Safe?
When used correctly and adequately maintained, power lift recliners are safe and comfortable for the vast majority of users. In many cases, they offer a safer alternative to traditional transfers, which can lead to strains and falls. However, it’s important to note that not everyone can safely use a power lift recliner independently. Certain factors, such as cognitive deficits (e.g., dementia or Alzheimer’s disease), can pose safety risks. Individuals with cognitive impairments may forget how to operate the chair, leading to improper use and potential accidents. In such cases, supervision is necessary to ensure safe usage.
Dr. Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLVT, CLIPP, advises that older adults with cognitive deficits can still use power lift recliners safely but should have supervision to assist them. If an individual is deemed unsafe due to cognitive impairments, steps should be taken to make the chair’s remote control unavailable to prevent unsupervised use.
Moreover, some individuals should avoid using power lift chairs altogether, even with supervision. One crucial consideration is core stability. Without adequate trunk strength, a person may fall forward as the chair raises them to a standing position, posing a significant risk.
Identifying Potential Hazards and Ensuring Safety
Like any motorized equipment or recliner, power lift chairs come with potential hazards that can be mitigated through basic safety precautions and common sense. To ensure safe usage and avoid common hazards, consider the following guidelines:
- Positioning: Place the power lift recliner away from other furniture, walls, windows, and heat sources to prevent collisions and fire hazards.
- Power Cord: Keep the power cord out of the way to prevent tripping hazards. Ensure it’s not in the path of foot traffic.
- Footrest Area: Avoid placing items under the footrest or blocking it. This prevents objects from getting stuck during operation.
- Unplugging: When retrieving fallen objects near the footrest, unplug the chair to avoid accidental activation, which could result in injury.
- Footrest Usage: Do not use the footrest as a step to sit or stand on. It is not designed for weight-bearing activities.
- Children: Ensure that children do not play on or with the recliner. Keep the remote control out of their reach.
- Weight Guidelines: Follow the weight guidelines provided by the manufacturer to prevent overloading the chair.
- Chair Position: Keep the chair in the down position when not in use to reduce the risk of accidents.
- Mobility Aids: Have mobility aids such as a rollator, walker, or cane within easy reach of the chair to assist with mobility.
- Pets: Before using the lift or lowering the footrest, ensure that pets are safely out of the way to prevent injury to them or damage to the chair.
Additional Safety Measures
Dr. Brandy Archie emphasizes the importance of choosing a power lift
recliner with a battery backup feature. This ensures that users won’t become stuck in the reclining position if a power outage occurs, enhancing safety during unexpected situations.
While it’s crucial not to acquire a power lift recliner prematurely to encourage the use of muscles for as long as possible, planning ahead is acceptable. However, individuals should exercise discipline and refrain from using the chair until it’s genuinely needed. Overreliance on the chair can lead to muscle atrophy and reduced mobility.
Conclusion
Power lift recliners have the potential to significantly improve the lives of older individuals and those with mobility challenges. These chairs offer enhanced independence, comfort, and safety during transfers. However, ensuring their safe usage is paramount. By following manufacturer guidelines and implementing common-sense safety measures, you can minimize the risk of accidents and injuries associated with power lift recliners.
Whether you’re a senior looking to maintain independence or a caregiver seeking to reduce the burden of transfers, power lift recliners can be valuable additions to your home. Remember that safety should always be a top priority, and regular assessments of the user’s ability to operate the chair should be conducted as their condition changes. With proper precautions, power lift recliners can offer both comfort and peace of mind.