How To Make Sitting And Standing Easier For People With Limited Mobility
People without limited mobility often take simple actions like standing and sitting for granted. However, for people with limited mobility, standing and sitting can be a big challenge. If you or someone you know has limited mobility, check out these five tips for making it easier to stand and sit.
Give Them Something to Grab
When it's difficult to stand and sit, having something to grab can be immensely beneficial. Adding support rails can help, especially in areas like the bathroom. They make it easier to sit on/in and stand from the toilet and tub. You can also purchase toilet safety frames. These structures attach to the toilet and provide hand rails on each side of the toilet seat, which makes it easier to push up into a standing position or ease down into a seated position. Similarly, when choosing chairs for people with limited mobility, always choose ones that have arm rests.
Raise Seats
When you sit, look at your knees. If they are above your hips, it's harder to stand because it requires more muscles to push yourself from the seated position. When your knees are level with or a little lower than your hips, it's easier to stand. Unfortunately, many couches, chairs and toilets are too low, making it difficult for people with limited mobility to stand, so you may need to test a few before finding the right one. There is no perfect seat height. It really depends on how tall the individual is. For toilets, you don't have to purchase a whole new toilet. Simply buy an elevated toilet seat.
Check the Seat Depth
Besides seat height, you should ensure you choose the right seat depth. It may be nice and cozy to sit back and relax in a deep couch, but even for people without limited mobility, it can be difficult to stand up from those deep seats. For people with limited mobility, it's important to choose seats with shorter depths, but make sure the entire thigh is supported. Again, the perfect dimensions depend on how tall the person is and how long the thighs are.
Choose Seats With Padding
Choosing seats with padding is another good idea, especially if it is a chair the person uses a lot. Make sure the padding is soft enough to provide comfort, but avoid choosing seats with too much padding. Choosing an overly padded chair poses the same problems as deep couches and chairs. It makes it too difficult for the person to stand, so they have to struggle more than they should.
Consider a Power Lift Chair
If standing and sitting is still too difficult even after you've chosen the perfect chair or couch, consider getting a power lift chair. Power lift chairs use a motor to push the chair into an upright position. As it moves into this upright position, it gently pushes the individual upward, so they can stand with ease. Most power lift chairs just plug into any outlet, but they also have a backup power supply in case the power goes out. Power lift chairs take up a lot of space, so an alternative option is a wall hugger. These wall huggers sit close to the wall, but they can still fully recline. They take up about 1/3 of the space needed for regular power lift chairs.
For people with limited mobility, standing and sitting isn't easy. Choosing the right chairs, couches and toilets can go a long way in helping people stand and sit. For more information about products for people with limited mobility, visit a medical equipment supply provider, such as Corner Home Medical, today.