My Mom lives with my sister but sometimes I take her with me and my car is higher than hers. We try to use a step stool to get her into car but Mom has dementia and does not walk on her own. Getting her into my car is proving to be extremely frustrating and almost to the point of being dangerous. She cannot help herself to get in and I try to pick her up and put her into the car but she fights me and I am at my wits end. Please help with any suggestions.
Can you swap cars with your sister when you take her out? You know someone should invent a wheel chair that rises. That would help you! You could pump it like a hair salon chair. *sigh, I am out of ideas , other than getting a new car. Sorry.
A stroke and an MI later, we were finally advised to forget car transfers altogether and I got modifications made to a Scion XB...not great, but no where near the cost of a lift van and a lot safer.
These days, I'm still disabled and I'm also my mom's caregiver, and in the beginning she and I were certain we'd never get her in a car again (she 4-10, 95 pounds). It was scary at first and we had to fine-tune our system, but it's now routine. I hope you guys figure out a safe and do-able system.
sitting down like the towel had done. It was also easier to grasp and boost Mom into a more upright position after getting her feet into the car. Just an experienced thought to share!
Use your sister's car, or arrange to have help. Someone's gonna get hurt.
I have a Rubbermaid step-stool with two steps and no back. The top step is as big as a seat. It's pretty stable and might help.