To promote a safer environment at home, one of the most important steps is to reduce the risk of a fall on the stairs. This is because half of all accidents occur at home and the most serious ones occur on the stairs.
There are many reasons an individual might have difficulty climbing the stairs. Sometimes it is as a result of a joint disorder, like arthritis, which makes movements painful and can make it hard to pick up your legs. Other times cognitive disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, increase the risk of a fall. These falls are often complicated by osteoporosis, which is a bone disorder that causes the bones to become brittle and more prone to break. Someone who is affected by osteoporosis will have a greatly increased risk of injury, so even a very small fall can turn serious. Other times, those who have had a surgical operation or people who have experienced an injury, will be at increased risk of a fall on the staircase.
These diseases and disorders are more common among those over sixty-five, which is why seniors are at an increased risk of serious injury on the stairs. In the majority of serious injuries and accidental deaths among seniors, falls on the stairs are the leading culprit. However, people of all ages can have difficulty safely using the stairs.
Some choose to avoid the staircase, especially those who have already experienced a fall, because a fall will quite often negatively affect a person's confidence. This approach is not a very practical solution for most though, because tit can often mean you have to avoid a very large portion of your home. Another option that some choose is to move to a home or care facility that does not have stairs, but this means leaving your home and potentially giving up your independence. For some of those who can not safely climb the stairs, these seem like the only options, but using a stair lift can ensure safe stair usage, without requiring a major life change.
Stair lifts are a type of medical lifting aid that carries a person up a staircase and back down. A stair chair is the most common type of stair lift, which provides a chair for the individual to sit in. Stair chairs provide a safe sturdy seat with supportive armrests and in some cases seatbelts.
The other type of stair lift, which is far less common, is the perch lift. A perch lift is a standing stair lift, but because it requires the individual to stand as the move up the stairs, it is not a good choice for most people. This option might be a good choice for people who are not able to bend their knees sufficiently to use a traditional stair lift, but for the vast majority of people, a stair chair will be the best bet.