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95-year -old mother-in-law says she cannot get in or out of bed. Insists on sleeping in a reclining chair.

A hoyer lift can get a person from bed to chair and anywhere else they need to get to. Medicare will pay for it if it is prescribed by her doctor.
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Reply to Tina1923
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jemfleming Oct 27, 2025
It is true that, with a doctors prescription, Medicare will pay for a Hoyer lift. But, last I knew, it will only be for a manual Hoyer that you have to pump with your arm to lift the person. My aide and I did that for two years until both of us started having shoulder aches. My aide asked me to get a battery operated one. I found one used and believe me it was worth the $. Medicare will pay for the basic Hoyer but there will be a monthly charge for an upgrade to a battery operated one.
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My mom is 92 and on hospice. When she could no longer bare weight on her own legs we started using an electric Hoya lift. I waited until my husband, and I just could not hold her up anymore and were afraid of injuring ourselves. We are all she has. She holds on to the straps, and we get her up 3 times a day. it's a life saver. We could not keep her home if not for this lift! Hope this helps someone!
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jemfleming Oct 5, 2025
You are so right - my electrical Hoyer is a life saver and a back saver and an arm saver. It makes the difference in my mother living out her life in bed or being able to sit in the living room everyday as well as transfer to a wheelchair if needed.
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My late 91-year-old father had a trapeze bar over his hospital bed in his home’s basement to help lift him up during his last five months of life after he suffered a broken hip from a fall.

Unfortunately, Dad was no longer able to get himself, even with assistance, out of bed.
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February54: Speak to her physician.
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Stair Stedy
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i used a transfer chair with a split seat. It kinda scoops the patient up. Google it and you can see what I mean. But think about the size of it and how wide it opens. The concept was great but we couldn’t put Dad in his recliner very well because of the arms on his chair. That was very easy to use when we had it. We also used a transfer board. It’s a a slick slightly curved board that wedges under 1 “cheek” and the other side to the chair. The patient slides with your help down the board to the chair. We as used a transfer safety belt like PT uses. These are options for you to look into . But it all depends on her mobility. Hospital beds are great since, if she’s mentally capable, they adjust to sit ting position. Oh! and on the hosp bed, they can add a trapeze bar that hangs above for her to grab ahold of and pull herself up . Whew that was a lot. Hope some of it helps! God bless
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As far as I can see nobody has mentioned bed assist rails, these devices go at the top end of the bed by the pillow and give you something to hold on to to help with standing and sitting, there are dozens of styles available.
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Reply to cwillie
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There are many solutions including a Hoyer lift. Personally, when I was dealing with my wife, I just lifted her up. People will say that’s not safe, but it’s a lot easier considering dealing with mechanical contraptions. You don’t see workers in hospitals using those contraptions they just usually get another person to help them.
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Reply to Sample
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You might want to consider discussing this with her doctor and asking her doctor to write an order for home health physical and occupational therapy so that they can assess her and provide recommendations for mobility assistance, including beds or devices her insurance may cover. It's also important for her doctor to be aware if this information so he can explore any causes for her lack of mobility that might be able to addressed with physical therapy and strengthening or medications for an underlying medical cause (such as arthritis pain).
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Reply to ClaraKate
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If she does not have a hospital style bed, then I would strongly suggest investing in one now! She can raise the head or foot for comfort, she can use the side rail to help pull herself up. She may not have the strength and will need assistance to get in and out of bed as well as getting out of her recliner.

There are devices to help an assistant to help her out of bed. A Sit-to-Stand lift or a hoyer lift. I've also seen a bed which sits up then turns to become like a chair. I have not used this and I think they're pretty expensive. See if her insurance, medicare or medicaid will help with the cost of a hospital bed, and or a lift device.

Is her recliner a lift chair? That, too is helpful, but in my experience, nearly every electric lift chair recliner comes with a massage function. Those massage points can feel like a hard lump in the chair. My husband sometimes gets a pressure ulcer from the hard massagers, and I can't seem to find a chair that does NOT include this.

If she is more comfortable sleeping in her recliner, let her. She will need to get up and be moved to a different position to prevent pressure sores.
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Reply to CaringWifeAZ
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Recliner is good but we walk her around a bit at bedtime just for mobility and the idea that she’s going to bed.
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Reply to Harrylcnm
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Have her evaluated by an occupational therapist and a physical therapist. There are many types of aids and lifts. If she has this much trouble, she should be evaluated first. She would need an OT or PT to order any kind of a lift.
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Reply to spectrum19007
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My mother also sleeps in her recliner much of the time. I got her an adjustable bed (not a hospital bed though) but between misplacing the remote and just forgetting that the bed adjusts she still prefers her recliner. She has chronic post nasal drip issues and occasional GER and the recliner helps with those. Her current recliner also has the lift to stand ability which she now likes, though in the past she was not open to that feature when I suggested it. About a week ago she fell out of bed and bruised herself badly. She can’t roll out of her recliner! We do put a pad on it incase she wets it while sleeping.
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Reply to Animallovers
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My mom used a power lift chair during the day and a hospital bed at night. She had CHF and needed an elevated head. My DH aunt preferred the hospital bed, the lift chair was too complicated for her although her aide could amazingly change her in the chair.

I would ask your MILs doctor to order her Physical therapy to show you how to move her when necessary w/o hurting either of you.
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Reply to 97yroldmom
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My nephew is 35 and sleeps in his recliner. He has physical problems that he is more comfortable in a recliner. My MIL slept in her recliner because her hips bothered her sleeping in a bed. There is nothing wrong wiyh sleeping in a recliner.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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There are devices/equipment that can help to get her in and out of bed.
BUT...
Many people I know and have known are more comfortable sleeping in their recliner chairs. This can be for various reasons.
The recliner head can be positioned so that the person is more comfortable.
Some chairs offer more support for the back then their bed does.

A hospital bed may be more comfortable for your MIL than her current bed.
The bed head can be adjusted, the foot of the bed can be raised or lowered.
The mattress can come in more supportive structure.
The bed itself can be raised and lowered so that it is easier to get in and out of.
And if incontinence is an issue the mattresses are easily cleanable.
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Reply to Grandma1954
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My Mom is 96 and due to pain and weakness has now preferred her recliner. This is pretty common.

I researched hospital-style beds. They often have uncomfortable mattresses, but raising and lowering the head and bending up at the knees is nice but the real necessary feature (IMO) is if can raise and lower the height. To get a bed with this feature is very expensive.

My Mom has a La-z-boy that has a remote to control the head and foot. My Aunt had a recliner where the seat actually pushed you to an almost standing position. This is a very helpful feature, I wish my Mom's could do this.

You can consider somehow lowering your Mom's existing bed and then putting arm rails on it so she can pull herself up (but my Mom thought they got in the way and disliked this solution).

IMO it would be more economical to try to buy a used recliner with the seat that pushes you up. My Mom doesn't seem bothered at all by the lack of cushy-ness of the recliner compared to her bed mattress.
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Sudaloo76 Oct 2, 2025
I would not buy her anything that has been used. A friend of mine bought a recliner from Good Will, and brought home bed bugs. She couldn't see them but she was getting full of bites and her doctor said they were bed bug bites.
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