Lifting, Turning, Transferring the elderly and disabled

Hello, as a 65 yr old caregiver for me 91 yr old functioning paraphleghic mother, I have experianced the need for robotic assistants.

They are out there but extrememly expensive currently.  Home Health Aids are in high demand but most are not willing to do the daily task of transfering, lifting and turning patients as they are paid poorly, barely trained and have no health insurance if they injure themselves. 

I know the strain, wear and tear on the human body even with the use of a Hoyer lift, I have torn rotator cuffs, chronically sprained ankle from pushing the lift. 3 herniated disc, and problems with my hands.  And patients / loved ones who are bedbound need to be turned every 2 hours to heal and or prevent bedsores.

Here is an example of a robot that the Japanese have invented

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCfW3UO6O0w&list=RDCMUCV3Nm3T-XAgVhKH9jT0ViRg

I would love to purchase or lease one of these but from the research I have done, the cost is presently $150,000.00 to $250,000

and I believe that the programming in the Japanese language would make it tough for me to contend with in terms of customizing the skill fine tuning for mom.

I hope that more people in America work to make this type of technology accessible to Americans. BTW, I will have no one to take care of me as I age and I plan on staying as independant as possible,  A robot like this would really help me achieve that goal.  Thank you!

 

1 thought on “Lifting, Turning, Transferring the elderly and disabled”

  1. I took a quick look at some

    I took a quick look at some articles on the lift robot you mentioned, and I feel it’s very pricey and may still be a research project.

    Have you investigated the beds that convert into a wheelchair? Panasonic has been working on this for years and I finally saw an article with a retail price of ~$11k US. For example, see this article. I suspect it is not available in the USA however.