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My father's memory care doesn't have a lift and he will eventually have to go elsewhere when he can no longer figure out how to transfer from bed to wheelchair to toilet with personal assistance. It seems to me this should be standard equipment in memory care. Any thoughts/suggestions? Currently they send him to the ER when he has trouble.

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Have you asked the Director if Nursing why they don't have one? Is it possibly due to state regulations?
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Invisible Feb 2019
I believe Shane nailed it. I was told as I was signing the lease that they don't do lifts or grind up food. I was surprised at both but since everything else was in place, went ahead with the arrangement. I think it is a staffing issue. Just wondered if it was normal in memory care since loss of motor skills is an expectation with later stage dementia.
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I would review your father’s contract first to search for any language in there that states the center does not use lifts.

It may be their policy not to use them. Once a facility agrees to offer a service - ie a Hoyer Lift - the center then needs to provide staff training on its use including how to troubleshoot, etc. Usually a maintenance log and schedule are then required of the center mgmt and staff must comply.

The center may not have the staff to assure this & may not have wanted to take this on.
( providing transfers via lifts). If the senior can’t stand and pivot with minimal assistance often this signals another level of care needed in that setting. That’s why the rules in your father’s center are in place. The center management has already decided this.

Using a hoyer lift requires two staff present to operate. In a center the 2 staff rule is difficult to meet if the center is not staffed to meet it.

I would bet they aren’t going to change their policy & allow lifts. It’s unfortunate but true.
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Where I live memory care is for people who need a locked facility and behavioural supports related to dementia but don't need other physical help with ADLs. Once a person needs lifts their care needs increase; it's not just an inability to stand but an inability to do everything else a walking person can do with minimal assistance such as dressing, toileting, getting to the dining room etc, plus they become a greater fall risk.
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