Benefits Of Wheelchair Platform Lifts

For the more severely disabled, a chair lift is not a logic solution to circumventing a staircase. Transferring from the wheelchair to the lift is not possible. Even if moving to the lift is possible, what does the handicapped person do upon reaching the next level? The heavy electric wheelchair is at the other end of the stairway. Although a friend or family member may be willing to pull a manual chair up the stairs, the heavy electric models are simply impossible to carry. Thus, the severely disabled still have an insurmountable barrier to living at home. Selling the home is not practical, and limiting access to one floor is a depressing way to live. In most houses, the bedrooms are upstairs; the rest of the family is upstairs, and the disabled person ends up with a bed in a main living area, with little/no privacy. Thanks to creative and thoughtful people, the problem is solved by a wheelchair platform lift.

In styles suitable for indoor/outdoor use, the platform lift is the answer to mobility difficulties within a multilevel home. The wheelchair occupant, or a care provider, simply places the wheelchair in the center of lift. In many models, 2-inch sides extend to prevent the chair from rolling off the edge. The lift controls are within easy reach, on the wall side of the lift. Either the caregiver can activate the lift, or the disabled can control the mechanical device.

Although the wheelchair platform lift generally fills the entire stairway, an important feature is available to improve the lives of everyone in the home. Once at the top/bottom of a staircase, the platform easily folds compactly to one side, or the other. Unlike the chair lift, the platform wheelchair lift prevents the need to transfer seats. Transferring is difficult. Understandably, most dangerous falls occur when transferring from bed to chair, bath to chair, and chair-to-chair. The lift is great for providing safe transport to different levels.

Reaching different levels is also important outdoors. Oftentimes, a house has more exterior stairs than a ramp can circumvent. A platform elevator can help the handicapped get into the home or be able to enjoy an outdoor deck. For example, some platform lift company has a variety of platform lifts to answer every logistical problem with heights and multiple story homes.

In conclusion, platform elevators/lifts can turn insurmountable obstacles, for the wheelchair disabled, into places of continued enjoyment. When moving or renovating is not feasible, a lift can still get the handicapped where they want to go. So, before turning the den into a hospital room, consider a platform lift.

Next article: Electric Stair Lift