Help for Elderly out of Bed without Hurting Them?

What is the easiest way to provide help for elderly grandmother out of bed without hurting her? Is there any kind of elderly safety strap or something?

REPLY from Caring-for-Aging-Parents.com
There are a few options to provide help for elderly getting out of bed that might also decrease pain. The best option is to find a way that she can do it herself, as then she can manage her pain when getting up and down.

Some equipment for seniors options for the bed are:

1. Bed rail: this is an easy-to-install rail that goes under the mattress of the bed and provides a hand hold for getting up and down. For more information, Bed Rails for Elderly.

2. Transfer pole: a transfer pole can be installed beside the bed to give a surface to hold onto when laying up and down. It also provides a surface to pull on when getting up from bed.

3. Hospital adjustable bed: these beds can have the head of the bed moved into upright electrically. This helps the elderly to get up more easily as they do not have to get up from laying down flat but being already half way up. For more information, Hospital Adjustable Bed.

4. Bed ladder: these are funny products for the elderly that are cloth "ladders". They attach securely to the end of the bed and the senior moves up in bed by pulling up rung to rung with their hands. Though these are an option, they don't often work great unless a senior has good upper extremity strength.

5. Trapeze: this is a device installed under the head of the bed (may or may not be attached to the bed frame) and has a triangle hanging from a rope. Elderly can hold onto this to pull themselves upright. These work well for elderly with good upper extremity strength.

6. Ceiling lift: if it is simple too painful for your grandmother to move in bed, you could consider a ceiling lift to help her get into and out of bed. Ceiling lifts can be quite helpful for people that require full assistance into and out of bed (which is hard on a caregiver). The drawbacks is they are expensive and they may also cause pain for your grandmother. For more information, Ceiling Lift.


If none of these products will help your grandmother, and you will continue to help her out of bed physically, the following tips might help to decrease her pain:

1. Tell her what you will do before you do it, "Grandma, I'm going to roll you to this side." This way she has warning and can mentally prepare.
   
2. Try to hold her close to you rather than at arms length.
   
3. Support her under the larger parts of her body (ie. shoulder, bottom area, both thighs).
   
4. Try to keep your back straight and bend with your knees.
   
5. Try to have the bed at a good height for you (usually about mid-thigh is good).

Hopefully one of these ideas work.

Other visitors are encouraged to offer helpful tips and suggestions that have worked with their aging parent.

Thank you,
Tennille