Taking care of stroke survivor-Best transfer chair(s) for wheelchair to car, bed to wheelchair plus the other way, and wheelchair to toilet?

[max2]

Yes we researched.

The person we are taking care of had a major stroke and their legs hardly work. They can barely stand. Yes they are going to PT but they seem to be getting worst. The doctors do not really know what to do sadly

We are trying to prevent hurting our backs anymore.

Please help if possible


Budget does not matter.

 

[velocityg4]

Talk to your PT, OT, RN and ST. Ask them what to get. If it’s expensive. Ask them to send their social worker. To put you in touch with resources for equipment or to put in a request with the patients GP to order or prescribe the equipment.

If you are getting at home care. Your therapist or head nurse should be able to get the equipment ordered through their own doctors.

The therapists should also be showing you safe ways to transfer them. If you’re acting as their caretaker. Along with teaching you the exercises they need to do multiple times per day.

Although with insurance copays. It might be cheaper to get a list and order it yourself. Especially if this is long term. A wheel chair, for example, will end up costing more after four to six months. Than buying it yourself.

 

[maflynn]

My heart goes out to you, good luck in dealing with such a sad situation.

 

[max2]

Thank you everyone!

Greatly appreciated!

 

[laptech]

In my opinion the best people to contact would be a disability charity, especially one that specializes in wheelchair use. There is bound to be one or some. Even if not in your country there is bound to be ones in other countries that can be contacted by email. Care homes are an other source because they are bound to have residents that have the exact same issue that the person you care for has. Again email the care home, explain the problem and ask if your can see the care home manager.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Yes we researched.

The person we are taking care of had a major stroke and their legs hardly work. They can barely stand. Yes they are going to PT but they seem to be getting worst. The doctors do not really know what to do sadly

We are trying to prevent hurting our backs anymore.

Please help if possible


Budget does not matter.

You have my sympathies.

If you are in the UK or Europe, this is exactly the sort of issue that state-funded healthcare can help with.

When my mother (who had vascular dementia) lost her mobility, - we were caring for her at home - the state supplied:


1: A medical bed - that could be tilted and/or raised/lowered as needed. The bed was disguised to look more 'normal' (it had wooden head and footboards), rather than an excellent rendition of the classical hospital bed.

Being able to raise, lower, and tilt the bed meant that moving the person in it was a lot easier.

2: An air mattress. This was to prevent bed sores.

These two pieces of equipment had control panels that would not have been out of place on the Starship Enterprise.

3: A "Buxton" style chair (could be raised or lowered or tilted as needed; it looked like an incredibly comfortable armchair, where my mother could sit out during the day).

Again, being able to tilt the chair made moving my mother a lot easier.

4: An electronically operated hoist (solid metal - it was regularly serviced by the state): This took two people to operate, and meant that my mother could be transferred from chair to bed and vice versa.

I would estimate that the cost of these three pieces - actually, four - of equipment easily ran into the tens of thousands of pounds.

5: Homecare service - we had three visits a day (lasting roughly half an hour each) where a body/company contracted to the state would send someone out to assist with my mother's care (washing, dressing, helping with eating, ensuring that meds were taken, etc, although our own carer took charge of much - if not most - of this).

6: My mother's medication was also funded by the state health care system.

7: Regular (twice weekly usually, more if matters deteriorated) visits from community health nurses - and doctors when necessary - to keep an eye on my mother's health and healthcare.

We, ourselves, funded private care as well: This took the form of of a wonderful Filipina carer, who lived with us for six years, providing superlative one on one care for my mother.

 

[Clix Pix]

In a situation such as this one, yes, so much depends upon the country in which the affected individual and his/her family and other caring support givers live. In the US, while, yes, there are supportive federal, state and local agencies, a lot of times unfortunately the affected individual's insurance coverage also comes into play, which unfortunately can present barriers to care and support in some ways.

Aside from all of that, though, yes, there should be some resources in the community, regardless of where one lives, so that at least even a basic level of information should be available for the patient and family, starting with him or her appropriately being assessed for use of the necessary medical equipment and other supportive devices. In addition, information regarding resources and options should be provided and available, including ways to obtain such equipment.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

You have my sympathies.

If you are in the UK or Europe, this is exactly the sort of issue that state-funded healthcare can help with.

When my mother (who had vascular dementia) lost her mobility, - we were caring for her at home - the state supplied:


1: A medical bed - that could be tilted and/or raised/lowered as needed. The bed was disguised to look more 'normal' (it had wooden head and footboards), rather than an excellent rendition of the classical hospital bed.

Being able to raise, lower, and tilt the bed meant that moving the person in it was a lot easier.

2: An air mattress. This was to prevent bed sores.

These two pieces of equipment had control panels that would not have been out of place on the Starship Enterprise.

3: A "Buxton" style chair (could be raised or lowered or tilted as needed; it looked like an incredibly comfortable armchair, where my mother could sit out during the day).

Again, being able to tilt the chair made moving my mother a lot easier.

4: An electronically operated hoist (solid metal - it was regularly serviced by the state): This took two people to operate, and meant that my mother could be transferred from chair to bed and vice versa.

I would estimate that the cost of these three pieces - actually, four - of equipment easily ran into the tens of thousands of pounds.

5: Homecare service - we had three visits a day (lasting roughly half an hour each) where a body/company contracted to the state would send someone out to assist with my mother's care (washing, dressing, helping with eating, ensuring that meds were taken, etc, although our own carer took charge of much - if not most - of this).

6: My mother's medication was also funded by the state health care system.

7: Regular (twice weekly usually, more if matters deteriorated) visits from community health nurses - and doctors when necessary - to keep an eye on my mother's health and healthcare.

We, ourselves, funded private care as well: This took the form of of a wonderful Filipina carer, who lived with us for six years, providing superlative one on one care for my mother.

@max2: Without the supply of this equipment - a proper bed, air mattress, hoist - and the "Buxton style" medical chair (plus the people to help maintain this equipment, and, above all, the people who helped us give my mother a superb quality of care), I do not think that it would have been possible to care for my mother (who was not at all mobile for the last three years of her life) at home for the last six years of her life, which is what we were privileged enough to have been able to do.

Now, while we were fortunate to have a system of public healthcare, I will also say that we, ourselves - and my mother had two pensions, - in addition to my mother's pensions, we also funded things, which means that, as a middle-class family - we had the means, the financial resources, to be able to do so, but my deployments on foreign postings also helped enormously, and my brother (Decent Brother) also helped out - such as being able to pay for our wonderful live-in Filipina carer, who lived with us for six years until after my mother's death.

 

[Clix Pix]

Unfortunately, the situation in the US can be quite different and unfortunately, unless a family has personal financial means and resources to cover a lot of things which are only partially covered or even not covered at all by the patient's health insurance, some items which could and should be used by the patient may not be available to them due to financial constraints.

Yes, this sucks, it is absolutely sickening, but it is reality in the lives of many families in the US who fall in between the cracks of being wealthy and able to afford what is needed regardless of insurance coverage and the scenario of the patient being dependent not only on Medicare (if eligible due to age or previously determined earlier disability) but Medicaid (based on not just medical, but financial needs), which in the end covers a lot more, but again, not all of the gaps in coverage.....

Aside from all that, there also seems to be a rather confusing mass of information (sometimes misinformation) out there, and not infrequently a sheer lack of cohesiveness in establishing contacts with the people who can actually answer the questions a family and patient may have and get them to the right resource(s) and agency which can then help them further.

Then again this all comes back down to whether or not the patient and/or family can afford whatever the recommended / necessary treatment or accessories might be..... It's a vicious circle.

 

[max2]

@Scepticalscribe


I do not think we have that in the US sadly but I will find out thanks! Greatly appreciated.

Right now it is just the me and someone else so a total of 2 people helping.

We know it requires more than that but right now it is the best we got.

Some equipment we have but it is the worst quality. Sadly.


Scared to buy too much or things that do not work.

 

[Clix Pix]

As was mentioned early-on in this thread, have you and/or the patient's family contacted various local, state and federal agencies to see if there is help available with regard to obtaining the equipment needed? If the patient is not on Medicare or Medicaid already, is perhaps the first step going to have to be actually moving towards making that happen, which would open doorways right now seemingly closed?

If this individual suffered a stroke some time ago, surely there must have been some support offered at the time by the hospital's social worker(s) assigned to that unit? Was there no PT offered at that time once the patient was discharged to home? Were no recommendations for appropriate equipment/transfer aids offered? Why was there no followup on the part of the professional medical team assigned to this case?

 

[Scepticalscribe]

@Scepticalscribe


I do not think we have that in the US sadly but I will find out thanks! Greatly appreciated.

Right now it is just the me and someone else so a total of 2 people helping.

That is a lot for two people.

We know it requires more than that but right now it is the best we got.

You need qualified (yet disinterested) advice on how best to proceed.

By qualified, I mean people who know what is required, but will not be motivated by profit.

Now is the time to call - call on - any friends you have who are work in the medical world, physiotherapists, doctors, nurses, - so that you can be briefed, even incompletely.

You cannot hope to take measures - especially when exhausted, terrified, emotionally stressed, and devastated - without informing yourself of what options exist.

Some equipment we have but it is the worst quality. Sadly.

Again, seek advice from anyone you know in the business as to what is considered good practice, and which of the products available are better than the others.

Scared to buy too much or things that do not work.

Don't buy anything in the absence of sound - and informed (and by that, I do not mean invested, or with a commercial interest) advice.

This is also the time to reach out, and to accept small favours and kindnesses from friends.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

As was mentioned early-on in this thread, have you and/or the patient's family contacted various local, state and federal agencies to see if there is help available with regard to obtaining the equipment needed? If the patient is not on Medicare or Medicaid already, is perhaps the first step going to have to be actually moving towards making that happen, which would open doorways right now seemingly closed?

If this individual suffered a stroke some time ago, surely there must have been some support offered at the time by the hospital's social worker(s) assigned to that unit? Was there no PT offered at that time once the patient was discharged to home? Were no recommendations for appropriate equipment/transfer aids offered? Why was there no followup on the part of the professional medical team assigned to this case?

Excellent post.

We had a care plan in place - one which was frequently adapted - and evolved - as my mother's circumstances changed.

This meant that professionals - every few months - sat with us, while we discussed my mother's needs, and how these could best be addressed, what we were entitled to (and how these could be accessed - both services and actual material equipment) and what we, ourselves, needed to do.

The state met some - in fact, many - of those needs, but we also met many of them (emotional and physical and financial).

 

[Clix Pix]

As a reminder, MR is a tech forum, not a forum for providing advice related to obtaining and using medical and health supplies, or with regard to issues or financial issues or other important concerns which tend to crop up in life. The best thing for you or anyone else associated with this patient is to contact local resources for assistance in dealing with the issues around this patient's health and physical well-being. His or her life may well depend upon your obtaining the appropriate help NOW.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

As a reminder, MR is a tech forum, not a forum for providing advice related to obtaining and using medical and health supplies, or with regard to issues or financial issues or other important concerns which tend to crop up in life. The best thing for you or anyone else associated with this patient is to contact local resources for assistance in dealing with the issues around this patient's health and physical well-being. His or her life may well depend upon your obtaining the appropriate help NOW.

@Clix Pix: I am more than aware that MR is a tech forum.

However, this thread asked about "best transfer chairs" - from bed to wheelchair etc - for people with mobility issues - and I do have considerable and extensive personal experience of - and some knowledge of - the sort of equipment that is necessary in order to be able to care for someone at home who has mobility issues as a result of a stroke, or other health issues that might impair mobility.

The equipment I described did exactly what the OP had asked about, and - in a "community" section - people are free to raise stuff that is of concern to them.

However, in our case, the state public health service supplied what we (and they) had agreed we needed.

@max2: You might also need to look at adapting the house (bathroom etc); in my country, state grants are available to fund at least 90% of the costs of such adaptations.

 

[Clix Pix]

Yes, SS, I know that you are more than aware about what I was stating about MR. To be blunt, I wasn't addressing you. I would have thought you'd realize that. There are probably quite a few other readers and participants on MR who may have needed to be reminded of this, though.

Many (most?) people when faced with medical issues wouldn't even think of coming to MR to ask questions, as, well, it is obviously somewhat beyond the scope of the site in general. This really isn't a medical site. It's an Apple-focused Tech site. It's online. People need help in real time within their own communities.

Beyond that, responding to questions here would be pushing the envelope of many people's ability (legally and otherwise) to knowledgeably discuss even if asked questions pertaining to medical situations. Undoubtedly we do have more than a few medical personnel who participate on this site: physicians, dentists, clinical researchers, nurses, physical therapists, etc., but they aren't going to jump in here to answer someone's questions on this site, as that would be for many reasons inappropriate, considered a violation of ethics and potentially jeopardizing their legal and professional standing.

Everyone's experience, whether patient or clinician, with medical issues, especially when it comes to being in different countries and dealing with how those countries handle providing medical care to their residents differs..... In the US, health insurance, Medicare and Medicaid plus out-of-pocket expenses paid by the patient and or family definitely each play a role in how someone's overall healthcare is managed.

When it comes to something as important as their own or someone else's medical and physical care, checking in with the local in-person/by phone resources should be first and foremost on anyone's list when it is time to ask for assistance.

 

[KaliYoni]

There are probably quite a few other readers and participants on MR who may have needed to be reminded of this, though.

I'd strike out "probably" and "may have", to be honest. For whatever reason, there are a number of posters (or a poster?) who regularly start threads seeking information that is best obtained from professionals or trusted advisors or close friends, not anonymous users of an Apple rumours website.

Having said that, I think the OP has received some good advice in this thread that will be useful when reaching out for in-person help and assistance.

 

[max2]

Thank you everyone we will put all of the advice in practice!

Greatly appreciated.