As we start most of our blog posts, we understand that as a caregiver you have firsthand experience taking care of your loved one — so we do not have to tell you the degree of difficulty that taking care of someone with Parkinson’s entails. While we don’t have to tell you how difficult it is to provide care, we do believe that as a homecare furniture company that it is our job to provide you with any insight that we have that might make your job even marginally more manageable. 

Being that our specialty, here at HomCARE Furniture by ComforTek, is the research and manufacturing of mobility assistance chairs for caregivers and people suffering from forms of dementia, we see it fit to discuss something that we know a thing or two about — sitting your loved one down in, and standing them up from, a chair. Continue reading to learn more about some ways that you can help your loved one suffering from Parkinson’s safely use their chair.

Standing To Sitting

First things first, as you prepare for helping your loved one begin the sitting process it is important to place your arms between their arms and their body so that if they fall you can catch them. Depending on their height and their size it might be difficult for you to find a good way to support them. If you have this issue be sure to consult with a medical professional like your loved one’s primary care provider or a caregiver with experience helping dementia patients. Once you have found a way to safely and gently support them it is time to begin the seating process:

1. Support your loved one as they take large steps towards the chair. Avoid shuffling steps, as the deterioration of their spatial awareness, may lead to them tripping and falling. Careful steps are extremely important because tripping in close proximity to a chair can result in both parties involved becoming injured.
2. Make a wide turn as you position them in front of the chair. Much like in step one, taking a wide turn is important because it ensures that they will not trip from their feet hitting each other or tripping as a result of the short shuffle step.   
3. Back your loved one up to the chair, or move the chair behind your loved one so that the seat is touching the back of their legs and they are centered between the seat sides. The reason that it is important for the seat to be touching your loved one's legs is that it will help them locate the chair when they are in the seating motion.
4. Support your loved one by the waist as they lean forward and reach back to grab the arms of the chair. Once they have located the arms of the chair you may influence their movement slowly, moving them backward and downwards safely into the chair.

Sitting To Standing

Much like the process of helping someone with Parkinson’s be seated, standing can be quite dangerous as well — if it is not done properly, that is. As a caregiver, it is more important for you to be careful as you help your loved one stand up as it is when you're helping them sit. “Why?”, you might ask? Well, if you think about it, helping someone sit is easier because you are simply pulling back as they sit to counteract their weight and allow them to sit gently. When you are helping your loved one stand, not only will you be exerting more energy, but the position from where you do so will be more uncomfortable. To help your loved one stand you should:

1. Slowly help your loved one scoot their hips forward in the chair so that their butt is near the edge of the chair. While this might seem unnecessary because it is not hard to simply stand straight up for you, moving your loved one forward will allow for them to exert more power as they stand, resulting in you being less strained — resulting in a lower risk of injury to both of you.
2. Next, make sure that your loved one's feet are spread to be shoulder width apart and that their feet are flat on the floor. In this step, it is incredibly important to ensure that their feet are slightly displaced behind their knee so that in the event that you, as the caretaker, have to pull them up, that their knees will act as a pivot point — allowing you to stand them up with ease.
3. Next, you will pull your loved one forward so that their head is above their knees and then you will hook your arms under their armpit to ensure that upon standing that your loved one is carefully supported. Lastly, help them stand. With your arms still hooked beneath their armpits slowly help them stand by supporting them in and upwards, and forward, direction.

As a caregiver to a loved one with Parkinson’s, there are a lot of difficult activities that you will have to complete during your day-to-day activities. Among those is sitting or standing. By following the safe sitting and standing directions that we have outlined above you will drastically reduce the likelihood of injury for both you and your loved one, as well as ensure that your loved one is more comfortable during the process. The two most important things for you to do as a caregiver is to allow your loved one to help as much as they can, as well as useful tools that can make the sitting and standing process easier. Tools like our homecare furniture here at HomeCARE Furniture by ComforTek.

Let Our Products Help Your Loved One Sit And Stand Safer

Here at HomeCARE Furniture by ComforTek we manufacture mobility assist chairs for caregivers so that they can provide safer sitting and standing conditions for their loved ones. Whether you are looking for a mobility chair that is supportive like a bariatric chair with wheels, or functional like a swivel dining room chair with casters, we make it! Additionally, all of our chairs without wheels come standard with a mobility assist lever that allows for you as a caretaker to safely move your loved one across the room, or into the dining table. If you are in need of a mobility dining chair to assist you in day-to-day activities such as mealtime, we advise you to browse our line of mobility assist chairs online. Do you have a unique need? Compare chairs today and let us find the perfect chair for you.

Contact us today if you have any questions about how our mobility assist chairs can help you provide care to your loved one with Parkinson’s.