More nursing homes and flats installing ceiling hoists

Such systems, more common in hospitals, ease strain on caregivers of bed-bound patients

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More nursing homes and households are installing motorised hoist systems, commonly found in hospitals, to make it easier for caregivers to lift bed-bound patients for daily showers or meals.
Healthcare aide Nalawayaa Suranga (left) and nursing aide Glaiza Minasalvas hoisting up Mr Goh Quan Yao at the Red Cross Home for the Disabled to transfer him from the bed to the wheelchair. The aides no longer need to strain to lift bed-bound patien
Healthcare aide Nalawayaa Suranga (left) and nursing aide Glaiza Minasalvas hoisting up Mr Goh Quan Yao at the Red Cross Home for the Disabled to transfer him from the bed to the wheelchair. The aides no longer need to strain to lift bed-bound patients for showers or meals. ST PHOTO: SYAMIL SAPARI
The Red Cross Home for the Disabled is using a $130,000 manually operated ceiling track system, where the hoist can be navigated sideways.
The Red Cross Home for the Disabled is using a $130,000 manually operated ceiling track system, where the hoist can be navigated sideways.
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At a growing number of nursing homes and even flats, the heavy lifting is done not by nurses or caregivers, but motorised hoist systems more common in hospitals.

Such systems save time and manpower, as caregivers no longer need to strain to lift bed-bound patients for showers or meals.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on July 15, 2018, with the headline More nursing homes and flats installing ceiling hoists. Subscribe