SMA News Forums Forums Assistive Technology What Type of Hoyer Lift Do You Prefer?

  • What Type of Hoyer Lift Do You Prefer?

    Posted by kevin-schaefer on June 8, 2018 at 9:00 am

    Columnist Ryan Berhar recently started a discussion topic about hiring caregivers and using hoyer lifts. Transitioning to using a hoyer lift can be challenging at first, but you get used to it.

    Yet what many people don’t realize is that there are different models of hoyer lifts. I absolutely hate the manual ones, and I’m even particular about the kind of electrical model I use. In recent years I started using the Molift Nomad Ceiling Lift, and I love it. It’s easier for my parents and caregivers as well. I wrote this social clip about it a while ago: https://smanewstoday.com/2017/11/09/making-transfers-easier-the-molift-nomad-ceiling-hoist/?amp

    What about you all? For those of you who use hoyer lifts, do you have a particular type that you prefer? What has your experience been like? Also if you don’t have much experience in this area, feel free to ask questions.

    adnan-hafizovic replied 5 years, 10 months ago 4 Members · 5 Replies
  • 5 Replies
  • deann-r

    Member
    June 8, 2018 at 4:47 pm

    To this day my mom still has back issues on occasion.  It does make me feel bad because I was resistant to using a hoyer for so long.  Our first hoyer was from the MDA closet.  Good ol’ manual pump kind.  I’ve stuck with the manual ones but am really intrigued by the ceiling lifts.  I think positioning would be easier and like Kevin mentioned in a previous post my knees and feet would be less likely to get banged around.  Question Kevin, was it covered by your insurance?  I imagine it might be quite costly.

  • adnan-hafizovic

    Member
    June 14, 2018 at 6:54 am

    I dont have Hoyer lift ,my is arjo max twin lift.I delight with them when we need to be transported we need just one person to manoeuvre.At Arjo all things is electric,and must tell I got him used, and was broken his battery didn t worked and my electric put other battery with larger capacity and leave option that if battery is empty I can turn on lift in a slot.When I got it I also havent belt for him,so I must find someone to made me,and I find person who made belt,I was finding on net some map with meassure and I satisfied with him.But in reality all these things lift,wheelchair and other things are so expensive.Because of that I usually buy these things used or buy to me some good people.

    • deann-r

      Member
      June 14, 2018 at 8:58 am

      That’s great if you can find used equipment at a lower cost.  My first lift was a hand-me-down.  My dad was always good at repairing things so I could at least use it until it got a proper repair.

  • jenny-rellick

    Member
    June 14, 2018 at 11:56 pm

    I was not able to use a Hoyer lift. My legs pushed on my stomach, which left me short of breath if I had an asthma attack or illness. I also didn’t have the neck control to use it without the headrest, but I had a terrifying experience where the headrest forced me into a closed airway position and I couldn’t get out of it until I completed the transfer. I had to find another option. Thanks to an ad in New Mobility, I found a great alternative: the Easy Pivot by RandScott. https://youtu.be/eN78ya7QMt0 The best thing about it, from my point of view, is that it enables me to use public restrooms at grad school, work, and on outings.
    For men with SMA Type 2, it’s pretty easy to use a portable urinal with one PCA, but women’s urinals are not so easy to use and often spill. For me, using the toilet meant transferinng to bed, pulling down my pants, transferring to the shower chair, peeing, getting wiped while seated, and then doing the reverse. I took 15 minutes. In my brief use of the Hoyer, it involved the same transfers, but my PCA struggled with my pants and changing from the regular sling to the toileting sling on the bed. Because my pelvis is oblique and my hips are uneven, lining up the toileting sling with my hips on the bed did not result in a stable sitting position on the commode.
    For years I only toileted at home. My 18-hour bladder habit resulted in a flaccid neurogenic bladder disorder, meaning I was officially incontinent. Worse, my incontinence started during my summer internship, which I wanted to convert to a permanent job offer. Why I became incontinent and how I restored my continence again is another story. The bottom line was that I would never be able to get through a workday without a bathroom visit. The Easy Pivot saved my career. No bed is needed. I get strapped in, roll into the bathroom stall, close the door, have my pants pulled down, sit on the toilet while being supported by the lift, pee, get lifted off, get wiped accurately because my assistant can see what they’re doing, pull pants up, open the door, sit in the wheelchair in nearly the same position, unstrap the lift, and -put the lift in the closet.
    I had two Easy Pivots, one for home and one my family bought for me-I forgot that Vocational Rehabilitation may have paid didn’t request financial assistance. In graduate school, the University was no help with enabling me to use the bathroom on campus, but a church three blocks away let me store a lift in their family and disability bathroom. I met an aid at the church. Later, when I started work, my employer accommodated me by letting me store my lift in a lockable closet in a women’s bathroom. Toileting took ten minutes, but I had to pay a lot to make it a worth the trip for a PCA. My employees permitted me to advertise in the newsletter for paid assistance from coworkers who I would train and pay at a more affordable rate. Several people called me, and all of them refus ed compensation.

  • adnan-hafizovic

    Member
    June 17, 2018 at 12:21 pm

    Jenny Easy Pivot is real relief for you and I think every women need to have it.Also it would be easier for men when we need to have how to say big need.In any lift we can t to pull of our pants and right now to sit on shower chair.Only second solution is to wear diapers,but I don t does anyone use it of us with SMA.

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