Special car seat

[CollegeGirl]

Dad has great difficulty getting mam in and out of the car. We have looked at and tried several aids in conjunction with the occupational therapist, none of which have worked so far.

I have been doing some research, and we'd now like to look into the possibility of having a special seat installed in his car that will turn 90 degrees, and actually move to project out of the car itself. I've seen several designs on the internet.

My question is - where do we go to buy such a seat and have it installed?

 

[jaymor]

http://www.ergomobility.co.uk/getting-in-and-out-of-your-vehicle/swivel-seats/

This might be of help

 

[Katrine]

I looked into this for my mum but decided against it on grounds of a) cost and b) the short-term usefulness of an aid that is primarily designed for someone who has physical mobility problems only. I was right about b). Within a year my mum couldn't get in or out of a car at all because her coordination had gone and she couldn't reposition herself properly, so would slump in a way that restricted her breathing. The only way she can travel now is by wheelchair taxi or ambulance.

However, this was what I found out about swivel car seats, about 5 years ago. I went to the local garage that had the contract for Motability vehicles. They told me that the actual seat adaptations were done by a car fitting company on the nearby industrial estate. They gave me an idea of cost, which was far too much to pay for privately. They suggested buying a portable swivel seat such as this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ability-Su...id=1486421469&sr=8-2&keywords=swivel+car+seat I decided that it wouldn't work for my mum because she would drop on to the seat like a sack of potatoes and needed to be guided by someone else to get her upright. Thus the swivel seat would probably just get in the way.

You've discovered something much fancier if it can actually get the person in and out of the car. I am intrigued to know more. Have just looked at jaymor's link. Yes, potentially that could have worked for us but we would have had to have changed the car. You couldn't fit a powered swivel seat in a Nissan Micra.

 

[Jessbow]

Many cars are either too low, or too high!

I did a lot of research and found that a Nissan Note fitted our needs very well, its one of the few cars that the back seat slides forward and backwards, is a bit higher ( but not 4x4 height) and still has plenty of stowage space In the boot.

 

[cragmaid]

Izzy went through this problem with Bll and did manage to get a swivel seat pad, I'll have a hunt for you...
I think it was something like... https://www.completecareshop.co.uk/...0dpgFVQJCFzWAc3Jlg1hz8_MQvogK1S4XwaAjNb8P8HAQ

I knw that others have also talked about having an extra handle on the door to use as a grip to heave out from.... I'm sure others will be able to give you more advice but try searching on the forum for Swivel seat pads .

 

[CollegeGirl]

Thank you everyone for your responses. Sadly we have discovered that a simple 'turn-table' style swivel seat/pad isn't suitable, for various reasons, nor are the portable handles and supports that can be slotted onto the car door/door jamb etc. The OT brought several of these round for dad to try, but none were suitable for mam's particular needs.

The link that Jaymor provided is very interesting and is what I had in mind. I've saved it to show dad to see what he thinks. One problem that I can foresee is that mam might try to get out of the seat while it's moving, so we'll have to think about this very carefully.

But dad recently hurt his back quite severely, resulting in mam having to go into respite for four days, which dad is always very keen to avoid. And he still isn't back to normal, not helped by the fact that he practically has to lift mam into the car whenever they go out.

Hence my research to try to find a solution! Thanks again.

 

[nitram]

I had this problem.

My solution as posted and disgusted on Izzy's was to use a slide sheet on the car seat and a bit of (wo)man handling. A bin liner filed with talc and given a good shake makes a substitute slidesheet.

Make sure you remove the slidesheet before setting off.

 

[CollegeGirl]

Thanks nitram, I'll pass that tip on