Riser recliner vs care chairs: which is best for care homes?
If you’re looking to buy supportive seating for a service user or relative in a care home, the chances are you’re probably wondering what different types of healthcare chairs exist and which is most suitable.
In this guide, we’re going to explain the differences between a riser recliner chair and a care chair, but we won’t leave you there! We’ll also give you specific advice about what level of specialist seating is normally required in a range of scenarios.
What is the difference between a riser recliner chair and a care chair?
A riser recliner chair has an electric lift and recline function and is designed to support a person who has limited mobility to stand up. A range of postural needs can be accommodated with basic lateral support and tilt-in-space features, to name a couple.
A care chair has a recline only function and typically offers an even greater range of positioning features and adjustments for users who are more immobile, transferring using a hoist and potentially spending all day in the chair.
It probably won’t surprise you that, given the top considerations for care homes buying recliner chairs, a professional seating assessment for each service user is essential when you’re looking at a potential purchase.
A riser recliner chair is likely to be best where:
- Service user is ambulant or semi-ambulant i.e. they are able to transfer to and from the chair independently or with some standing assistance e.g. using a Sara Stedy
Service users who are likely to benefit from a riser recliner chair include those with:
- Frailty
- Arthritis
- Motor impairment from minor to moderate stroke
- Multiple sclerosis
Popular models:
Here, we can clear up a common misconception that a riser recliner chair can’t also be a porter chair (i.e. wheeled from room to room). It can – because that’s exactly what the ASHORE Porter riser recliner chair does!
A care chair is best is likely to be best where:
- Service user is non-ambulant i.e. they are not able to transfer to and from a chair independently or with a stand aid, and are lifted using a full-body patient hoist
- Service user has complex postural, pressure care and positioning requirements
Service users who are likely to benefit from a care chair include those with:
- Advanced dementia
- Motor neurone disease (MND)
- Huntingdon’s disease
- Agitation and/or wandering
- Life limiting conditions
Popular models:
For more modular and bespoke care chair solutions, we recommend Formal Medical.
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Natalie Webber
