Reclining electric lift chairs: An enabling mobility aid suitable for any home.

A while back, I was helping to look after an elderly gentleman in his own home as a community support worker and one of the enabling mobility devices that he had in his home to help aid him on a daily basis was a motorized or electric lift chair recliner. When out of curiosity I started looking into what kinds of electric lift chairs were out there, I have to admit that I was a little amazed at the diversity of chairs that are to be found on the market today. The important thing to remember is that often when our bodies start to show serious signs of aging, some tasks become more difficult. One task that can become very titanic is standing and sitting. lesser chairs, like recliners, are often surprisingly onerous to raise out of for a senior, especially if an individual has been sitting for an extended period of time. This is why many folks use lift chairs. A lift chair is a recliner, but it is also much more. In the base of the chair, an electric motor helps to control the backrest and footrest. This motor also raises the chair slowly through the air. Such mobility aids are also commonly known as motorized lift chairs and even handicap or handicapped lift chairs, however that last term is somewhat pejorative in nature.

From my own experiences in the workplace dealing with some of my clients, the ones that have their own lift chairs in their own homes have made it clear to me just how much of a difference owning such a mobility aid has made in their lives; the fact that they can relax in comfort in their own homes and not feel any stress or sense of urgency in regards to needing to have someone come to their assistance any time that they need to vacate their recliners for such reasons as that of needing to go to the bathroom. The feelings of inconvenience, frustration, and even alarm are not uncommon in situations where one may need to transport them self to the bathroom facilities on short notice and therefore require the assistance of others to leave their own chair hastily. the home lift chair recliner solves this dilemma quite effectively for many individuals with restricted mobility.

So how do they work? When the person sitting in the lift chair is ready to stand, they activate a switch on the lift chair. As the liftchair is raised, the occupant remains seated within it. When the liftchair has completely risen, it is possible to exit the chair in a near standing position. When later it is time to now sit down, simply lean against the seat and push the button marked down, and the lift chair will lower the user into a comfortable sitting position once again. The chair does not raise completely vertically, but instead at an angle, so that when it is actually fully risen it is possible to stay safely in the seat with no fear of falling out. The chair also moves very slowly and steadily, therefore there are no unsteady movements.



It is important for the sake of user comfort that a home lift chair is suited to its intended user. Actually, you will find that the issue of comfort comes back full circle to the issue of safety; It is highly important to fit the lift chair to the person who will be using it, as failing to do this can present a very big safety concern. The persons height and their weight are very important, because each lift chair is designed for a certain body size. However, there are chairs available that will comfortably fit virtually any individuals figure or frame. For more information about how to understand lift chair measurements, so you purchase a lift chair that will be safe, you can find the information at any local lift chair retailer or home care outlet or online at any of the large number of mobility aides websites that are out there. A quick search for chair lifts on either Yahoo or Google will bring up a number of these sites.

It is important to know that most modern liftchairs have a number of safety features built in as a part of their design. Good quality lift chairs always use a constant pressure switch to control the movements of the chair. This switch ensures that the chair will only move while the button is being pushed. This way if the up button is accidentally pushed or the hand held control is dropped, the chair will not move, greatly increasing safety and most importantly preventing falls. A lift chair is controlled electronically and also plugs directly into the wall. Many models also offer a battery backup, which is used if there should for whatever reason be no power to the chair. Conveniently a nine-volt battery is most often used as the backup, so it can be replaced inexpensively when it is time to do so. If the backup is used, it should be replaced afterward, but otherwise the nine-volt battery should be replaced once a year. Many people choose to replace them when they change their fire alarm batteries. The prime service that a lift chair provides is of course that of making sitting and standing both easier and safer. However, lift chairs can again be a very comfortable place to sit, sleep, or watch television. Similarly to a recliner, the backrest reclines also the footrest extends, but unlike most recliners, these components are controlled electronically, making the lift chair much easier to use; Finding that comfortable position can be done quickly with just the push of a button.

Subsequently, no matter the chair, finding a comfortable sitting position is much easier in a lift chair, the degree to which the lift chair reclines will vary by model. Generally there are three categories that are used to describe lift chairs. These three categories describe how far back the lift chair can recline. The first type of lift chair is the two position lift chair. These chairs are capable of reclining about 45 degrees, so while not superior for sleeping, they are conducive to watching television or reading a book. A three position lift chair is perhaps the most common. The backrest reclines nearly horizontally, the result being that it is a chair very well suited to reading, watching some television or even sleeping. The third commonly available design of chair is called an infinite position lift chair. This model of chair reclines as far if not slightly farther than a 3 position lift chair, however the footrest is capable of moving independently. In other types of lift chairs, the footrest moves in conjunction with the backrest, but infinite position lift chairs allow these two components to be adjusted separately. This makes them much more customizable. Speaking of customization, I believe that it is also possible to order a lift chair from a number of different colors and cover material patterns as well, if necessary, it may be possible to order a limited variety of replacement lift chair parts if the need for such items should ever arise.

See, I told you that I was slightly amazed at what there was to learn about this subject of home lift chairs!