Patient lift for a small apartment

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jfaidley

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Oct 5, 2014
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32
Reason
CALS
Diagnosis
07/2014
Country
US
State
NY
City
New York
Can anyone recommend a Hoyer-type lift, able to be operated by a single person and to lift someone from the floor if necessary, that is made for small spaces? We have a very small apartment in NYC... I have found some options online, but thought others might have firsthand experience. I understand that none of them are truly small!
 
PS: My husband cannot support himself in a seated position at this point, so that's another consideration...
 
Is there a company by you that will bring out a few models to see if they fit? We have a tight space and fortunately had a nearby company that brought in a few hoyer type to try. Unfortunately, none of the models they brought fit in the spaces we needed to go. We eventually put in a ceiling lift system.
 
It may not be as bad as you think. We had a Hoyer loaner in a small apt. -- 41" long if memory serves (model now discontinued). You only need it to fit one place, and that is to transfer in/out of bed. When we brought the wheelchair into the bedroom for transfers, to transfer into bed, we had to back the wheelchair into the hallway first to make room for my husband to transfer, as, there was never room to actually operate the lift with the bed so long as the wheelchair was there. No big deal. And this was on carpet, which is harder.

The folding ones, if affordable for you, would of course be most convenient for a small place and for travel. We stored our unfoldable loaner in a bathroom we could no longer use much.

Think of your bedroom as a runway where the length of the lift and ability to turn are the key. The cradle rotates, so you will approach the bed at a 90-degree angle. Feel free to post a layout if you are unsure.
 
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Sure Hands also has one that is designed for bed to chair transfers. I believe it is fixed so it wouldn't be movable but, as Laurie says, the need is from bed to chair and chair to bed.
 
Thank you for the tips. The runway analogy is useful, Laurie, and Kim, I will check out the Sure Hands model. Also, we may go for a trip this summer, so will look into folding ones...did not realize those were an option. Will ask the DME companies -- the one that provides our respiratory stuff says they only have one, standard Hoyer, but perhaps I can call another to see... And MToole, I think we need to move to Illinois! :) I have been in hospice for a long time, so have tons of experience with the DME vendors besides this unfortunate personal experience. And I was flabbergasted to hear that some DME vendors actually bring equipment for you to consider. What a concept! Appreciate the replies!
 
Some of the folding models are the Hoyer Advance, the Molift Smart and the Liko Light.
 
We recently took delivery of a Prism Medical "free standing" overhead lift. Works like a ceiling lift without being attached to the ceiling. Set up took less than 30 min. It is not movable but works well doing transfer from bed to chair or toilet. The local ALS association has an agreement with Prism here in St. Louis You might look at their website as they have several models of lifts and slings and excellent videos. They happen to be headquartered in St. Louis where we live.
 
We also have the Prism free standing overhead lift in the bedroom and love it. Use it for bed to commode, commode to wheelchair, and the reverse at night. As you know, it's also portable if one wanted to take it on a trip, or decide to locate it in another room with a half hour of work. We had to pay for it, $5500.00, but it has been well worth it. I would have mentioned it to you but thought you were focused on something more mobile. Question. What type of agreement does your ALS assoc. have with Prism? Was it for a discounted price or free? Happy to hear you found a solution.
 
The local ALS Association has a rental agreement with Prism and they are covering the cost of the rental for 12 months.
 
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