My mom sleeps in her lift chair - refusing to sleep in a bed any more. She is 85. She is incontinent and has trouble standing and walking.?

Answer 1

If she is getting a good night's sleep in her chair then there is not real reason why she should be persuaded to change to a bed.

However, there is probably an underlying cause as to why she has changed from sleeping in a bed - perhaps it's difficult to access (e.g if it involves walking up stairs, or is quite a distance away), or it may be that she has problems getting in and out of bed (any conditions which limit movement, or make movement painful will make getting into bed difficult), hence why the chair is easier.

(If she is unsteady there is also a small risk of her falling off/out of the bed, so you may wish to consider adding a barrier or grab rail to the side (similar to those found on hospital beds)).

It's also worth noting that many people who have spinal problems (including osteoporosis) might be more inclined to sleep in a chair, since it may be more comfortable. People with acid indigestion/acid reflux or problems breathing also tend to favor sleeping sitting up.

The main issue here seems to be perhaps not so much that she sleeps in a chair, but that her mobility seems to have declined greatly, as she has trouble standing and walking. Inactivity can become cyclic - the less one moves, the less one is inclined to move because it's become more difficult. Offering encouragement to get her to take a few more steps daily (using a walking frame perhaps), or even chair-based exercises (sometimes called "chair aerobics/sitting aerobics" - pretty much raising and lowering arms, sticking out one leg then the other etc... ) are fairly beneficial to anyone with a sedate lifestyle, since even a tiny amount of exertion significantly lowers the risk of chest infections.