Monthly Archives: October 2009

One of our readers submitted a guest column for those trying to handle the many tasks involved in caring for aging parents.  Names have been withheld by request.

One of the hardest moments a family may have to face  when their parents get old, is telling them it’s time to move out of their home. That day might come for us, but for now, thanks to the support of her children and modern technology, we’ve been able to avoid it.

My mom has always been able to manage the two-story home plus basement, she has lived in for many years. But as she gets older, her spinal stenosis (a condition in which areas of the spinal cord narrow down, causing pressure on the cord and the adjacent nerves) is making it difficult for her to walk up and down stairs. This condition is exacerbated by problems with her heart.  We heard that in cases like this it’s helpful to install a stair chair or stair glide.  This is a device in which the person sits in a chair that glides up and down along a metal rail attached to the stairwell wall, thus providing comfort as well as safety.

Our preference was to install 2 stair chairs, one to the basement where the laundry and food pantry are located, and the other up to the second floor where bedrooms are located.  We got lots of resistance but after a hard sell on our part, Mom relented, at least partially.  She conceded to one stair chair from the first floor to the basement.  Thankfully, she liked it.  It allowed her to continue her normal daily routine.  But she was adamant that we not install one from the first to second floor.

After she fell in the kitchen one day, we decided it was time to take the next step to insure her safety, as well as her quality of life.  Again, the stair chair to the second floor was strongly resisted.  Her fear? That it would detract from the look of her beautiful home for visitors who came in through the front door.  Her underlying reason, we suspected, was that the installation of this second chair was one more unwelcome indicator of age and dependency.  Again we met her resistance with respect and common sense.  Her ability to stay in her home has to come with some accommodations.  Mom’s health and safety are simply too important.  Our family made the decision and purchased the second stair chair over her objections.

To be honest, the day it was installed I was nervous about going to my mother’s house. But  when I got there I found out that she’d already used the lift three times! And because it was so helpful to her, she began to think that it was not that bad-looking after all.  But best of all, it has paved the way for any future amendments to the home as her needs evolve.  Next time may not be so hard.

Note: Stair chairs usually cost two thousand dollars or more to purchase and install. Some do come with color coordinated rails instead of chrome, to match the décor of the home, but this detail can add several hundred to more than a thousand dollars more to the price. In most cases these devices are not covered by insurance or the government. For more information, do an internet search using the key words “stair chair,” “stair guide” or “stair lift.”