Patient lift

A patient lift (patient hoist, jack hoist, hydraulic lift) may be either a sling lift (or Hoyer Lift, a brand name) or sit-to-stand lift. This is an assistive device that allows patients in hospitals and nursing homes and those receiving home health care to be transferred between a bed and a chair or other similar resting places, using hydraulic power. Sling lifts are used for patients whose mobility is limited. They could be mobile (or floor) lifts or overhead lifts (suspended from ceiling-mounted or overhead tracks).

The sit-to-stand lift is designed to help patients with some mobility but who lack the strength or muscle control to rise to a standing position from a bed, wheelchair, chair, or commode. They use straps, vests, or belts (as opposed to slings) to make the transition possible.

Sling lift

The sling lift has several advantages. It allows heavy patients to be transferred while decreasing stress on caregivers while also reducing the number of nursing staff required to move patients. It also reduces the chance of orthopedic injury from lifting patients. Patients who have medical conditions that do not allow them to be bent and compressed by the sling as they are hoisted (i.e., cannot withstand "vertical transfer") will require specialised slings which can lift horizontally, or use other assistive devices for transfer. The other types of transfer device which allow for lateral or supine (supine position) transfer are stretcher chairs (also called transfer or convertible chairs) that allow patients to be slid or dragged from the bed onto a mobile stretcher that then converts to a mobile chair, and inflatable sliding mats which use air bearing technology to reduce friction during lateral transfer (see Lateral Patient Air Transfer). Other less expensive alternatives are disposable or washable sliding sheets and sliding boards.