riser chair (merged)

levjack

Hi there

My mum is nearly 70 and is now finding it difficult to use her lounge chair, I'm thinking about getting one of those riser chairs. Can anybody point me in the right direction and any recommendations.

Errata

There might be a 'demonstration centre' in your area - they're often run by Social Services - which may have a couple of different styles for your mum to try out. If not, your local Age Concern should have details of local stockists where she could try before she buys.

margaretclare

Look at: https://www.bodysmobility.com

Or: https://www.dayshealthcare.com

We bought a pair of crutches from them yesterday and had them delivered. £30 well spent. I'll tell you about it in another thread. The point is: they do have all these kind of chairs.

However, I would stress that, although your Mum is 'nearly 70', it's her legs that don't work and not her brain. She must make the decisions and choice for herself, about what type of furniture she puts in her home.

sleepless_saver

There are different options, depending on what is making her chair difficult for her to use. For example if it is just too low, booster feet (not sure what the proper name is), can be fitted to many chairs to make them higher.

tich2

Hiya,
I am an occupational therapist working for social services and I deal with this problem daily. Depending where you are in the country there are normally charity organisations that will be able to demonstrate chairs and also advise you on buying one, these organisations don't actually sell the goods themselves so there is no hard sell. We have one in East Sussex called ESDA (East Sussex Disability Asscociation).
In most cases that I attend these are not needed and the main problem is that the chair is too low. It is easy to check that the chair is the correct height for your mum. Do this as follows.
1/ measure your mums leg from back of the heal to back of the knee.
2/ compress the seat down as if your mum was sitting on it and measure from the floor to the top of the compressed seat.
The compressed seat should be the same as the length of the leg. If the seat is lower as it normally is the chair needs raising. If the chair is a recliner it can't be raised due to balance issues.
There are different chair raisers for different chairs. If it is a chair with casters there is a frame that uses the holes where the casters go in and there are many others with adjustable heights. Your local social services should be able to supply these free of charge if you ask for an OT assessment, this may be beneficial as your mum may also be having difficulty with other transfers including getting up and down getting up and down off the toilet, bed etc.
Your mums chair may also slope backwards when she sits in it due to the back sinking. This is an easy fix, get an old cushion and put it between the main cushion and frame of the seat towards the back, this will make the chair more level. If your mum's hips are below her knees she will be pushing all of her weight up on her arms instead of the legs doing the work as they should. I hope this helps, let me know if you need any more info and please don't just go out and spend hundreds of pounds on a chair that may not help. I have seen this far too often.
Here is a link to chair raisers.
http://www.benefitsnowshop.co.uk/products/Bed_and_Chair/Bed_and_Chair_Raisers.htm

Snowbird

Can anyone recommend a good stockist for the type of chair that help you up from a seating position to a standing postion.
My mum is in a wheelchair, and although she can stand, she really needs help getting from a chair to the upright position.
I showed her some catalouges some time ago, and she did not like any of them as they looked like "old peoples home furniture".
She has quite modern tastes (apart from collecting antiques) so she wants something that does not look like it is a chair for a disabled/old person.
I had thought of getting something made for her. Has anyone had any experience of this?
She is in hospital at the moment, where she will probably remain for the next few weeks. Hopefully she will be out before Christmas or she will go up the wall.
I am hoping to hire 24/7 nursing so she can be out a bit sooner, so does anyone know how long something like this would take to be made?

EdInvestor

The leather versions IMHO are better looking, especially in the ivory colour.

http://www.reclinersdirect.co.uk/ezlift_discount.php

carbonel

Snowbird - if your mum is in hospital get the hospital Occupational Therapist to assess her for a rise/recline chair. It should be supplied for her if she needs it for independence, i.e if it will help her to get up on her own. Whlie they are at it thay should assess her for any other equipment that will help her at home. Also badger the hospital Social Worker to tell you what your mum is entitled to regards care at home, future respite if needed, day services if she would be interested in meeting up with other ladies (and gents!) for a chat and a game of bingo (or whatever).
Alternatively, contact your local Disability Resource Centre and get their advice on local procedures (I work in one so I know!), and/or your local community services (used to be called Social Services).

Good luck - just make a darn nuisance of yourself and it will all happen!

margaretclare

Have a look: www.hslchairs.com

I have 2 chairs on order for me and DH, delivery time 4-6 weeks. Not quite the riser/recliner but the kind that has a foot-rest that raises, to support his bad leg.

I understand completely where your Mum is coming from, and HSL do make the kind of chairs you see in hospital, but equally, they make the kind that look just 'normal' for someone's own home.

Recent events have made me a bit cynical about the 'assessments' of OT/physio people. I am still trying to track down who sent a zimmer frame and a potty-type thing on a frame - they've been out in the rain since my neighbour brought them round on Saturday morning, having taken delivery of them when I was out. Had I been here I would have said 'I don't want them, take them back where they came from'. Having narrowed it down considerably I am certain it was the hospital physios who thought DH would need these things, even though he was off a zimmer and on to crutches! They didn't bother to ask. I am cynical now about the very idea of being 'assessed' by someone else. And I know you wrote 'or whatever', but why oh why is bingo the first thing that springs into anyone's mind?

We were also offered 'someone to come in and get him up'. Well, that would be useless. I know that the 'someone' might arrive any old time, and is he supposed to stay in bed when he'd rather get up himself and have breakfast with me in the kitchen? And 'put them back to bed' - well, that could be very early, not what we'd call a normal bedtime.

Just my recent experiences.

sleepless_saver

Have a look at this thread about riser chairs, post 5 has some very useful and well informed comments.

If you have a local Disabled Living Centre, which is impartial and does not sell stuff, she can try out different chairs to get an idea what might suit her. There are quite a lot of different variants.

Judging from my recent experience, I think you can safely assume that any chair provided by the OT will not be the last word in contemporary furniture design.

luxor4t

I went to a local, reputable furniture shop and bought a rise & recline chair (electric) for just under £800,delivery was free. I did not have to pay VAT although I did have to sign a form to confirm my disablity (rheumatoid arthritis) to get the exemption.
My chair is elegant and fits in with the rest of my furniture - I would not have bought it if it looked institutional!
PM me if you would like further details.