If you take care of a family member with mobility problems, you know the effort involved in moving them daily. Let’s discuss why wheelchairs for home are what you need, the benefits they bring for senior parents and how they will make the life of your dearest more comfortable.
Continued overexertion can end up injuring the elderly’s back, and moving the patient without any support is uncomfortable and poses a risk of falls. All of this can be avoided by having the support of an indoor wheelchair that will facilitate the transfer of aging people with limited mobility.
Why Do You Need a Wheelchair for Home?
Generally, outdoor wheelchairs, especially those with large wheels, are too bulky to maneuver inside the house. In many cases, there are rooms that we cannot access with them, or they prevent senior parents from approaching certain areas, such as the bathroom.
Indoor wheelchairs are ideal for the home: they allow to transfer people with mobility problems to different rooms safely and easily. Such wheeling chairs are designed for indoor transportation: to facilitate mobility and save you effort. With the help of a folding wheelchair for indoor use, you can move the elderly parent from the bed to the chair, armchair, or toilet in a simple way.
Advantages of Indoor Wheelchairs
The fundamental advantage is that they are narrower than the outdoor chairs, which allows seniors to access the smallest areas of the house. They have small, more manageable wheels, which rotate 360 degrees, this allows users to rotate the chair on itself and maneuver in much smaller spaces.
Make sure the measurements of the medical vehicle are right for you before purchasing an indoor chair: measurements of the width of the doors or the places your senior will have to access with the chair so you will be sure that the chair will be functional and will allow the elderly use it where they need. Many of these narrow wheelchairs also have folding armrests that allow the patient to be transferred (lateral transfer) from chair to chair, to toilet, or from chair to bed and save a lot of physical effort.
Other Accessories for Indoor Wheelchairs
Home-use wheelchairs come equipped with a toilet under the seat, which allows senior parents to use them as a portable toilet. This add-on is very useful in cases where it is impossible to transfer the elderly person to the bathroom. The portable toilet is removable, so the gap left in the seat makes it possible to place the chair directly on the toilet if needed.
For greater safety, many of these chairs can be complemented with a seat belt to prevent falls during transfers. For users who do not have trunk stability, there are indoor wheelchairs with tilting. The patient reclines slightly on the backrest, and his head rests on the headrest in a safe and controlled position.
5 Tips Before Choosing a Wheelchair for the Elderly
- Seat Width
The chair seat should be comfortable and wide enough so there’s space for wearing extra clothes like a jacket or coat. People choose slim seat widths of 15 to 16 inches. The seat width of 18 inches is one of the most common seat sizes, as it will fit in most cases. For those who need a wider seat, look for 20+ inches models. Above these widths, there are other special seats, ranging at most from 26 to 28 inches, specially designed for bariatric wheelchairs.
- Support Arms
To get the arms in and out of the wheelchair from the side, removable armrests are needed. Removable armrests become more important when, in addition to getting in and out from the side, seniors need to move around a toilet, between tables, etc., with a wheelchair. Adjusting the height of the armrest is always important if you want to avoid excessive neck strain and hunched shoulders.
- Wheels
Large, solid wheels are just great. This makes wheelchairs very agile and can roll over furniture, sinks, etc. Obstacles, such as curbs, etc., are overcome by tilting the wheelchair.
For mainly indoor use, we recommend small rubber wheels and large tires. Using puncture-proof tires, even on large wheels, makes it easier to maintain a comfortable ride.
- Handrails
All folding wheelchairs come standard with handbrakes on both drive wheels. For people who can barely push the chair with one arm, there is a double handrail solution on the same wheel. Alternatively, consider a power wheelchair that is easily operated with a joystick.
- Brakes
All indoor wheelchairs are equipped with a safety brake as standard.
Conclusion
For anyone who has suffered a temporary injury or is elderly and has mobility issues, a wheelchair is the best solution for getting around the house, the street, or any other environment. Today, the market is able to offer an endless variety of models, so before purchasing one model over another, remember to carefully evaluate each possible item according to your senior parent’s personal needs.
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