Any way to block access to stairs if a chair lift is fitted?

[ppm]

My 87-year old father has late-stage Alzheimer's (needs help with every aspect of day-to-day life), and has recently fallen a couple of times at home.My 93-year old mother cares for him (and is currently refusing any external help). My concern is that Dad will fall down the stairs. While they have a stair lift fitted he tends not to use it, and is not very steady on his feet.
We've been trying to convince Mum to let us move Dad's bed downstairs but she is refusing, and is also pointing out that he would need to use the stairs to get to the bathroom anyway.
The only option that might work is to use barriers to prevent Dad from accessing the stairs (at both the top and the bottom), but the problem is that the stairlift would make that very difficult or even impossible. Even if a barrier could somehow be accommodated with the stairlift in place, my mother would need to be able to close it behind her whenever she uses the stairlift to go up or down.
Has anyone here had a similar dilemma? Can anyone think of any workable solutions?

 

[Rosettastone57]

My 87-year old father has late-stage Alzheimer's (needs help with every aspect of day-to-day life), and has recently fallen a couple of times at home.My 93-year old mother cares for him (and is currently refusing any external help). My concern is that Dad will fall down the stairs. While they have a stair lift fitted he tends not to use it, and is not very steady on his feet.
We've been trying to convince Mum to let us move Dad's bed downstairs but she is refusing, and is also pointing out that he would need to use the stairs to get to the bathroom anyway.
The only option that might work is to use barriers to prevent Dad from accessing the stairs (at both the top and the bottom), but the problem is that the stairlift would make that very difficult or even impossible. Even if a barrier could somehow be accommodated with the stairlift in place, my mother would need to be able to close it behind her whenever she uses the stairlift to go up or down.
Has anyone here had a similar dilemma? Can anyone think of any workable solutions?

My husband used to work for a well-known stairlift company and I have posed this problem to him to see if he has a solution. You could have a barrier fitted either the top or the bottom of the stair lift it would have to be a bespoke solution depending on the stairs and the stair lift and this could be operated by remote control. This would have to be individually made you can't get one of these off the shelf as it were. You will need to speak to the company that put in the stairlift if they are a decent company they may well come up with an individual solution.

 

[ppm]

Many thanks for that - I will indeed contact the stairlift company. Has your husband seen any similar setups which have proved workable?

 

[Rosettastone57]

Many thanks for that - I will indeed contact the stairlift company. Has your husband seen any similar setups which have proved workable?

No he hasn't actually seen one in action but as an engineering manager in that industry anything is possible. Apparently there are systems in place depending on the individual stairlift to automatically fold away tracks at the bottom of the stairs and this could be Incorporated into producing some sort of barrier. I think talking to the individual stairlift company is going to be the way forward here I'm afraid I'm not very technically minded myself . I'm afraid it probably comes down to cost