Are stair assist devices a good alternative to a stair lift?

I am going to start with my usual.
If mom is living alone and she has dementia as you mention in your profile I am of the belief that a person with dementia should not be living alone.
Now that that is out of the way....
I just googled this stair system.
2 thoughts.
I can not imagine trying to use this and go up or down stairs toting a load of laundry!
Is she going to "get" how to use this stair system?

I think the safest thing is any of the following.
*Laundry gets sent out.
*A caregiver is hired to stay with mom and the caregiver can do laundry as part of her job. Mom can help folding, putting things away...but the dragging laundry up and down the stairs can be done by someone else.

I agree with others—send the laundry out. There should be a place that picks up and delivers nearby.

Use Moms money to have someone come in and do her laundry and some cleaning ,
while you look for a facility . Mom can’t live alone anymore since she gets confused . I hope someone already has POA.

I looked at the stair-assist website, as we have stairs, which are a problem for me and visitors. It would help me keep my balance, but wouldn’t work for several friends with knee issues. At the moment I’m feeling that everyone has two knees, both of which have, have had, or will have problems. I can hold a laundry basket if it's empty and I have one free hand to hold the stair rail, but I couldn't hold a full heavy laundry basket one-handed. My guess is that it's a lot of money for a very limited benefit.

PS Duh! Halfway down the stairs on the way to do my own laundry, I just realised that you couldn't hold a laundry basket at all, as both hands are needed to hold on to the stair assist device.

kenmtb: As your mother suffers from dementia, she shouldn't be living at home, let alone trying to navigate steps to do laundry. That's a recipe for disaster.

The assist thing looks like it requires the person using it to be able to hold on and balance even with the assist. So, good mobility would be important.

After my mother broke her hip 4+ years ago, I had a chair lift installed and it's been the best money that I've spent. She's 97 now and we use it every day. It has a seatbelt that I use so she doesn't fall off of it.

The stair assist lifts that a person stands on would not be suitable (if they really do work). How would your mother carry the laundry down and then back up?

I would consider doing what most people do in the UK - have a washing machine in the kitchen. We tend to use smaller front loaders, although they can be difficult for a frail person to bend over to deal with.

My stepdad uses a grab stick to put the laundry in and out. He doesn't fill the machine with too many items and washes every other day on an economy cycle. The clothes are then hung out on an airer in front of an open window. They don't take too long to dry if given an extra spin. (I live in a studio flat and I can barely hear my machine, except when it's on the fastest part of the spin.)

It's not ideal, but it's safer than negotiating stairs with a heavy load of laundry.
The alternative is to spend the money a stair assist would cost to buy and install on a home help or laundry service.

I reviewed the links you posted. Neither is helpful to someone who is attempted to carry laundry or anything else up/down steps. As others have indicated, if she is starting to have memory issues, which will not get better, she may soon not be able to operate at either the stair assist or even the stair lift. Is it possible to put a small washer dryer on her first floor to eliminate the trip down the stairs ( you will probably have to lock the basement door because she is not going to change the habits of many years easily). Or perhaps we can go back a century and have outside help come in on specific laundry days.

MIL had a stairlift installed (taking up waaay too much of the narrow staircase) and she didn't like it, so she'd kind of shimmy past it to get to the laundry. It didn't help as she didn't like it (made her look old)..

Looking back, a smaller stackable w/d could easily have been made to work in her kitchen and she would have had no need to ever go downstairs at all.

I was THRILLED at age 64 to have found a home that had the laundry on the main floor! I am embracing the aging before it really hits me.

If this stairlift was just for her to move up and down stairs, it'd be fine, but once you add a basket of laundry--IDK, it really wasn't a 'win' for my MIL.

My MIL had steps to the basement and so did an Aunt. These are dangerous. Your Mom should not be trying to get up and down these stairs with a basket full of wash. I am 74 and would not try this. There are apartment size washers and dryers that can be put practically anywhere. Get a set and lock that basement door so Mom cannot go down those steps.

Your Mom will worsen, and it could happen overnight. She needs to be placed in a nice Memory care if she can afford it. Otherwise a nice LTC facility with Medicaid helping.

Ken, the point here is that with memory loss/dementia at play, none of these devices are safe for your mother to use to get into a basement to do laundry. In fact, SHE is not safe living alone with you living far away and trying to manage things for her. Nobody here is going to tell you some awful looking device that you linked us to is a good idea because it isn't! I shudder to think of ANY elder using that thing. I'm not surprised it isn't available here in the USA due to stricter safety laws.

A stair lift can be purchased used but even IT is not safe for an elder with dementia and diabetes!

Focus on getting her in home help or into Assisted Living instead of how to get her up and down a nasty staircase!

Good luck.

Your profile says that your mom has Alzheimer’s disease.

Sorry, I don’t know anything about these stair devices.

I wouldn’t focus on how she should get up and down the stairs. Focus on either finding full time caregivers for her in her home or looking into facilities for her.

What is her overall floor plan? I hope that she has a bedroom and bathroom on the first floor.

Best wishes to you and your family.

Cant move the laundry room. To clarify the device is a simpler alternative to stair lifts which are too expensive and require code enforcement. She is not in a bad state, but could use help up and down stairs. Even I do not like those stairs.
I was asking if anyone has any knowledge of these devices or knows if they are available in the US.
Thanks

https://www.fortunamobility.com/stairsteady

https://discoun2stor.top/ProductDetail.aspx?iid=371959380&pr=80.88

Expecting mom to learn and continue to understand how to use new equipment is not realistic. Her cognitive skills will continue to decline. She might recall how to use it today but won’t even know what it is next week.

Time to find another way to get laundry done. You might be able to move the washer and dryer upstairs to a converted closet and lock the basement door so she can’t go downstairs. But then you still have the problem that it may not be long until she doesn’t know how to use a washing machine.

She may need hired help. She may need to be in a facility where her daily tasks are done for her. Or you may need to arrange for her to send the laundry out.

I recall a question like this a month or so back; was that you as well, Ken?
I see that in your profile your mom suffers from dementia and from diabetes.
That adds two very serious concerns to the normal aging process concerns.

As an 81/83 year old couple still with stairs, laundry is possibly one of the most dangerous things we do and we are well aware of that. Even with holding onto rails there is little to save one from a fall, as the shoulder will simply be wrenched away from the socket, and you are down.
Moreover balance is poor and you are maneuvering weight and bulk.
With the added diabetes, any injury from doing laundry is like the end spelled for your mom.
I wouldn't allow her to do laundry anymore. It should be hired out or done by you or someone should come in to do it.

I don't know if your mom currently lives alone or with family, but in either case its time to think about going into care or having more care coming into the home. Working with lifts and devices just adds another level to the aging brain and the balance issues.

I sure wish you both the best.

I don't know anything about the lifts you describe but my parents live in NYC and they have stairlifts so I'm not sure about code enforcement. They are allowed here. Yes stairlifts are expensive but they were well worth the cost. They could safely get around the house and exit their house from the basement.

Aside from that, I want to add that when doing the laundry got to be too much for my mother, she began sending the laundry out once a week. The laundromat picked it up and delivered it. Maybe sending laundry out to be done is something to start considering.