According to a new DESA report, the number of elderly people will surpass that of children for the first time in 2045. The World Population Aging 2009, a report recently published by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, found that by the middle of the century, 22% of the world’s population will be aged 60 years or older. The report says the impact of this demographic shift will be “profound…… Will have major implications and consequences for all aspects of human life “. “In the economic sphere, population aging will have implications for economic growth, savings, consumption, labor markets, pensions and inter-generational transfers”.
Feeling this data, then we will have to face a fact that it’ll be a huge market potential for sellers selling goods targeting to these groups of users — patients, elderly, seniors, disabled, or handicapped.
There are various problems targeting these groups of users. Every family has old people, everyone will be old in the future. With the growth of age, people’s various functions will also loom corresponding aging problems.
The elderly not only have more diseases than young people, but also have their own characteristics. The main reason is that after getting old, functions of various organs gradually appear obstacles, body resistance is gradually weakened, activity ability is reduced, and the collaborative function is lost. Maybe the commonly seen illnesses are ailments and illnesses in terms of bones, muscles, neural systems, mentalities, sightseeing and listening, breathing (some need breathing aids for assistance) or digestion,etc.
However, in this article, I’d like to lead you all to focus on one issue — difficulties in mobility and motion, and with limited motion range. Usually, people with difficulties in moving independently have to turn for help from others.
Besides those living in healthcare organizations such as gerocomiums or hospitals, many are nursed at home. Thus these special users are in need of assistance from their family members, relatively, friends, or neighbors.
As per household usage, the occasions and circumstances are limited. We can divide this based on locations or based on certain actions.
Now, let’s dive right in the top 8 commonly used household transfer aids.
Top 8 Commonly Used Household Transfer Aids
These are different types of transfer aids. However, we make our article organized based on surroundings and gesture-transference.
Household transfer aids in different occasions and with different gestures
Bed to wheelchair transfer assist devices (Vice versa)
Bed to wheelchair transfer refers to moving patient from bed to wheelchair, these users are usually those suffering from stroke, paraplegic users, hemiplegic users, or patients. These groups of users are always elderly, seniors, disabled, handicapped or bedridden ones. They don’t have the ability to move from bed to wheelchair on their own, thus, their families, relatives, friends, or people surrounding need to give them hands.
But if you don’t want to rely on any assistive devices, please refer to Saint Luke’s post on transfer from bed to wheelchair.
1. Gait belt
Based on National Library of Medicine’s National Center for Biotechnology Information website’s information, to transfer a patient from bed to wheelchair, if necessary, caregivers should attach a gait belt or a walking belt around the patient’s waist area.
Waist is the source of power, improper protection in transference is easy to cause waist injury. Here we can see the same principle working as well. For the waist discomfort caused by long-term sitting and the lumbar protrusion (here I’d like to recommend the lumbar support pillow for back for home use or office use) caused by old age and infirmity, the need is to disperse the spinal pressure brought by medical lumbar protection and avoid the spinal support.
During transfer patients, caregivers have to protect his or her waist part, support its waist area, and make whole transference steady and secure. Taking care of the patient’s core strength part — the waist is to get the essence of moving a patient.
The gait belts are especially suitable for soothing lumbar disc herniation, lumbar hyperplasia, dislocation, lumbar muscle strain, bone spurs, lumbago, sciatica and other lumbar diseases and rehabilitation treatment after surgery.
The gait belt is a safety device for caregivers to help transfer patients. They are generally between 1 1/2 and 4 inches wide and up to 60 inches long. Its production materials are generally divided into nylon and leather. Some elderly people who have difficulty walking or those are doing rehabilitation exercises, usually need others to assist them. This tool can facilitate the nursing staff to ensure the safety of the elderly walking more effectively, and also prevent the elderly from being injured due to improper support.
There are different categories of gait bands. The simple gait belt looks similar to a normal belt, but is longer and thicker than a traditional belt. There are also gait straps with handles, which are designed to allow caregivers to “target” their strength. Also, gait straps with handles are less labor-intensive to use. There are also gait straps that wrap around the patient’s thighs, looking more like a “harness” used by construction workers.
For instance, on our website, Fanwer transfer gait belt with handles & leg straps for transfer aids combines above characteristics — with handles and leg loops.
Although the straps are a little more taxing to put on, they provide a better balance between the patient’s weight and the caregiver’s strength. The gait belt is definitely one of the best transfer aids.
Regarding how to use a gait belt, you guys can refer to how to put on a gait belt on Wikihow.
What’s more, gait belts are also suitable for sit to stand transfer, stand to lie transfer, sit to lie transfer, car to wheelchair transfer, wheelchair to toilet transfer, and toilet to wheelchair transfer, etc.
2. Patient sling lift transferring machine
Nowadays, more and more patient sling lift transfer machine show up, and some are even electric ones.
Electric transfer machine mainly targets incapacitated personnel and nursing staff who’re in need of these auxiliary products. It acts on the incapacitated population barrier free shift, for short distance moving, weighing, or for rehabilitation patients’ walk training. With an electric remote control button a liter a drop transfer can easily achieve the patient transfer job. This reduces a lot of work intensity and chore for the caregiving personnel, but also expands the scope of activity for patients. Meanwhile, It improves the quality of life of patients to some extent.
Electric hoist for transferring patients is a machine based on a product concept first appeared in Europe and the United States. From the very beginning of the manual hydraulic rocker, and then to the present stage of pure electric shift machine, the functions from the original nursing transfer function was enhanced. Afterwards, features such as lying flat, rehabilitation walking training function, weight detection function, are gradually added to complete the nursing artwork. In order to improve the use of the lift machine for patients, a variety of matching spitters have been developed to cope with a variety of environmental and nursing transfer needs.
Generally speaking, the steps of moving the elderly tools are as follow:
l The parts of the patient hoist lift machine are fixed, and then caregivers will push the hoist for moving patients to the front of the bed. By this time, the sling is all hung on the hook of the shift machine. After fixing the patient or the bedridden, caregivers should slowly rise the hanger. During this process, it is better to hold the patient’s back.
l After lifting the patient, the splitter of the shifting machine is trampled open, so that the wheelchair is completely pushed into the appropriate position of the patient sling lift machine. Then slowly put the patient down, pull the handle behind the sling, and seat it firmly.
- The patient can also be placed on the sofa and wheelchair. The method is simple. Just lift the patient, so that the legs of the patient hoist lift can be inserted under the sofa or wheelchair, adjust the appropriate position, and put the patient down.
- If the patient accidentally falls, the patient can be slowly lifted from the ground by this stand lift transfer aide, and attention should be paid to protecting the patient’s head and back to prevent collision during the process.
- However, as per the usage of this lifter, there are precautions that we should pay attention to before we actually give the user a hand;
- Lock the back in the middle of lifting and hoisting the patients;
- Support the patients’ backs beside him/her during the raising process;
Here on Fanwer, we’ve got a Fanwer 36-inch patient transfer sling with handles for disabled for your reference.
3. Wheelchair straps and harness
Wheelchair straps and harness are also named wheelchair safety belts. As the name suggests, these items are for the sick or elderly in wheelchairs. The main function of wheelchair seat belts is to prevent the patient from leaning forward and falling.
Who rely on wheelchairs every day are always disabled, paralyzed, handicapped, bedridden, or the elderly. They’re the vulnerable group. Considering their safety when they’re out in a wheelchair, the straps and harnesses are created. Many of these items are made of Oxford cloth, cotton cloth, nylon belt and fiber cotton cut and stitched. When patients are unable to walk or move independently, they can be protected in the wheelchair to prevent them from inertial falls.
Generally, when going out for outdoor activities, it is inevitable to encounter emergency stops, obstacles on the road, turns on the road, uphill and downhill, etc. Because of the high-speed inertial movement and slope inclination, the wheelchair will be likely to roll or lean forward, causing the patient to fall down. For the personal safety of the patient, the wheelchair fastening strap can fix the patient to the wheelchair, effectively preventing the patient from accidentally falling down due to various reasons. To a large extent, it effectively avoids the harm caused by accidents to patients. Greatly reduce the occurrence of risk.
Generally speaking, wheelchair seat belts have following characteristics:
- The thickened fabric is firmly and strongly padded with buckles, and the length of the item can be adjusted to the body shape.
- The built-in padded cotton evenly distributes the patient’s pressure and gravity.
- The left and right sides may use elastic splices with gripping handles to facilitate the nursing staff to exert force.
- Selection of ergonomic but different sizes and widths of fabric made.
- The main material may be waterproof cloth, which generally has the following characteristics: heat resistance, low temperature resistance, wear resistance, corrosion resistance; waterproof, anti-oil, anti-fouling.
- More material friction coefficient
These are only the very basic features of the item. Some more functions of the belts are even added, such as the pocket function. This little pocket, for the patient in the wheelchair, is a must. Maybe the patient need to put a mobile phone in it. Such functions add more convenience to the patients.
Here, Fanwer offers 3 types of wheelchair safety straps and harness — Fanwer wheelchair straps and harness for sale, Fanwer wheelchair seat belt restraints, and Fanwer wheelchair harness for transfer aids. You can check them out for yourselves.
4. Transfer board & transfer sling & slide board
Transfer boards, as one of the members of mobility aids, also belong to the 8 commonly used household transfer aids. If you are looking to make a safe and easy transfer from your wheelchair to another surface, then you will need a transfer board or transfer sling.
A transfer board is a flat, smooth piece of material that usually connect the surfaces of two different items. Users can slide across to move from your wheelchair to another seat or bed. A transfer sling is a piece of material that is looped around your body and under your legs, which you can use to be lifted out of your wheelchair.
If you are looking for an alternative to a transfer board or transfer sling, you can also use a slide board. Slide boards are typically made of a plastic or PVC material and have a smooth, slippery surface. You can use a slide board to move from your wheelchair to another surface, or you can use it to slide across to another seat or bed.
Here, I’d like to recommend Fanwer 36-inch padded patient transfer sling with handles, and the transfer boards from HD in UK.
Bed to car/hospital transfer aids tools (Vice versa)
Regarding to car/hospital transfer aids, it is maybe more difficult to do so. However, in this case, multiple assistive tools are needed.
Besides the gait belt and the sling lift we mentioned above, maybe the slide sheet transfer aide is also required, especially at the very beginning of moving patients.
5. Slide sheet transfer
What are Slide Sheets? A slide sheet is a flat sheet made of a material that allows it to move easily on both carpeted and hard surfaces. This mobility assistive device is used to help reposition patients in bed or to transfer them from one surface to another. Slide sheets come in a variety of sizes and styles, depending on the needs of the patient.
The reasons why the slide sheets are needed perhaps because of these:
- To help reduce the risk of injury to staff when repositioning or transferring patients.
- To help improve the comfort of patients by reducing the amount of friction and skin irritation that can occur when being moved on a hard surface.
- To help make the repositioning or transfer process quicker and easier for caregivers.
- To help reduce the amount of laundry that needs to be done, as slide sheets can be reused.
There are several reasons why care facilities or even hospitals might use slide sheets when caring for patients. One reason is perhaps the slide sheets can be reused, which helps to reduce the amount of laundry that needs to be done.
Here, I’d like to recommend Fanwer slide sheet transfer aids with handles, or you can go check the same items on Amazon US.
Transfer aids from wheelchair to toilet (vice versa)
6. Turning shelf or turner
Many turning shelves have attached blocks for knees and handles. This facilitates the caregivers in the process of providing assistance to the patient. Some turn shelves are created with a rotating seat for easier turns. Some of the devices are equipped with small wheels for easier direction turning.
The transfer turner is more like to be a goods carrier. See the photo down below:
These items are from handicare, you guys can double check its products list.
Transfer aids from Wheelchair to car (Vice versa)
As per wheelchair to car transfer, there are several different items involved. Maybe the transfer board, the body turner, Let’s check them out here.
7. Leg lifter strap
The leg lifter strap is perhaps used before embarking on the car or SUV. It is suitable for those patients who’ve lost power of their lower part of the body, while they’ve still got strength anchor point on their upper body.
It is ideal for those recovering from hip or leg surgery, or those suffering from arthritis, restrained mobility of their legs and feet.
It helps users lift their legs in and out of the car or truck, or even helps them move their bodies from the ground to bed.
It is something like this.
Here I’d like to recommend to you our multi-loop leg lifter strap with foot grips. Or you can check on a better one — Fanwer leg lifter strap for transfer aids.
These items can also be used for rehabilitation from surgery and operation.
8. Handy bar
A common challenge for people who need mobility aids is getting in and out of a car. For anyone who uses a wheelchair or has difficulty with balance or strength, this process can be both daunting and dangerous.
There are a variety of transfer aids on the market that can make this process easier, but they can be expensive and hard to find. A car transfer handy bar is a simple and affordable solution that can make a big difference for people with reduced mobility.
A car transfer handy bar is a small, portable bar that can be attached to the door frame of a car. It provides a stable and secure grip that can be used to help transfer a patient from a wheelchair to a car seat.
A car transfer handy bar is a great option for anyone who struggles with transferring from a wheelchair to a car seat. It is an affordable and easy-to-use solution that can make a big difference in your ability to get in and out of a car.
In a nutshell
For people with reduced mobility, having the ability to get around can be a challenge. This can be due to a variety of factors, such as a disability, an injury, or simply the aging process.
Reduced mobility can make it difficult to get in and out of a car, which can be a major barrier to travel and independence.
At the end of this article, I’d like to recommend the content of top 5 rare lifestyle mobility aids for seniors and elderly.
Hope these 8 transfer aids commonly used in households can help you out. Any questions, drop me a line via our contact page or the chat bot.