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Is it considered a restraint? It's a bit difficult to figure out how bad my Dad's dementia is yet, but he is certainly unable or unwilling to remember to use his walker, and hence at a constant risk of falling. (He came home after a broken hip, and fell within three days.) Nor will he ask for help. So anytime we or caregiver look away or walk into other room he might stand up and fall.

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The lifts are not designed to have someone left in them for more than the few minutes the transfer takes. In my opinion this would definitely be a restraint, a very frightening and uncomfortable one at that. What other options have you explored?
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When I saw your question on the Newsfeed I was ready to assume that your father had been left too long in a hoist and you were checking what should be done about it. I must admit I was pretty stunned when I realised that actually you were asking from the opposite point of view - would it technically be all right to use the hoist/lift/tracking system as a means of keeping your father upright.

You didn't seriously, honestly now, think that would be acceptable, did you?

It isn't that I don't sympathise. Goodness, what I would have given at times for a non-punitive way of tying my mother to her chair...

One borderline legal/ethical technique would be to get your father an over-chair table that he can't easily move out of the way when he wants to get up, so that he has to call for assistance. But even that is not okay for any length of time - make it too effective, and you are imposing a "Deprivation of Liberty" on your loved one which can get you into serious trouble. I also placed my mother's walking frame so that she had to either go round it or use it, which gave me a tiny bit of extra time to get there when the pressure alarm went off.

In the end, you have two unattractive choices: supervise him constantly, or accept the falls risk having minimised it as much as you possibly can. I did say they were unattractive.
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Uhm, I can't see a lift being used as you imagine except perhaps as part of a special rehab apparatus.
I'm going to suggest you use the search box, type in "prevent falls", as any advice I have for you I would have learned from others on this site. Hopefully some others will chime in with their advice also.
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I meant to search this site, there is a search box on the main forum page, or if you open the menu by clicking the three lines on the left in the blue bar. I have read many posts from people with the same problems, unfortunately there are often no easy solutions.
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I'm sorry but this is getting a little bizarre, there is no system into which you can strap a person which would allow him to walk around the house connected to a ceiling track, I can't even imagine how such a thing could possibly work even if there were. Unfortunately we have to make the best of what is actually available.
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I think the sad truth is that you can't protect your father from himself at this point. You can do the best you can, but you aren't Wonder Woman or Superman and can't be there 24/7. Do the best you can and what happens, happens. If he falls, he falls. Just make his room as protective as possible.
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midrashist, when elders get to a certain point in their life, they will fall, that is what they do. What kind of walker does your Dad have? Is it the type where it it only has one set of wheels on the back?

My Dad didn't use his walker much until I bought him a rolling walker [4 wheels, hand brake, seat, basket]... he loved it, thus would use it more. To him it was the best thing since slice bread... my Dad was also an engineer, and inventor. If he was younger, he'd probably invent something to make life easier for elders.

Now mind you, occasionally Dad would forget to use his walker, it is just something elder will do. And there is no way for caregivers to be glued to the hip to make sure they don't fall. Just hope it is a soft landing.
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I sympathise again. He really doesn't remember, and he really doesn't think he needs it. I wish more than anything that I had learned faster that this was symptomatic of dementia, and not stubbornness, inattention or some kind of death wish. How long do you expect your father to be in rehab? - because if he's coming home again, now is the time to get an occupational therapist in to recommend safety adaptations like hand rails, grab bars, room layout and so on.
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On psychiatric meds: My aim with my mom, who has vascular demential post stroke, is to keep her safe, calm and as healthy as she can be. It took a lot of trialing, but she is now on two antidepressants (remeron and lexapro, I think) and some klonopin for anxiety. She gets a fairly low dose of klonopin on a daily basis with more as PRN if she gets agitated. Like over the summer, when she thought she had leprosy......my aim is to keep her out of psychic pain as well as physical.

If your dad is a blob, then talk to the docs about titrating the meds. It CAN be done.
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Will this work?
NEVER leave a patient UNATTENDED in a hoist lift.
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