When considering getting a stair lift installed either for yourself or for a relative it is a good idea to think about how long you might need it for.

Understandably its not always possible to estimate how long you might need one in place for, you might at first plan for a temporary situation and it ends up being in place for years, or think that you might need one in place long term and just a few months later you have no need for it.

If you consider getting a new stair lift fitted, the cost can be a good investment but if after a few months there is no longer a need for it then when it comes to having it removed and sold on you could be losing out on a substantial amount of your investment.

This will depend on who will buy it from you, basically some companies will offer to buy back the stair lift but at a much smaller amount than what you paid for it and if you or a relative only used it for a few months and it was new or nearly new at the time of installation then naturally you wont be happy to be offered a fraction of what you paid for the stair lift for it to be bought back from you.

Because of depreciation, its expected on most products that we buy that they lose value, some purchases lose value quicker than others, vehicles would be a good example of this, basically once purchased and driven off the forecourt a car or other vehicle is losing its original value through depreciation right after purchase.

So its important that you take this into consideration when thinking about getting a stair lift installed.

While many people will think of a stair lift being useful for an individual with a physical disability and immediately make this connection between the two, there are other uses for stair lifts where mobility issues might not occur in the direct sense of physical disability but still problems due to other diseases like Alzheimer’s.

There can be added challenges when an individual with Alzheimer’s might be reluctant to use a stair lift and understandably it may lead to frustration for the person with the disease, there is also the added difficulty that once a person with Alzheimer begins to use it (if you can get them to) will they continue to do so as time passes.?

Clearly an individual with Alzheimer’s will not be expected to learn to use it on their own so there still needs to be assistance in that aspect and if the user can be convinced to use it regularly then it will increase safety and make things slightly easier for both the Alzheimer’s sufferer and those living with and/or caring for the person.

I think that there could be a risk of a stair lift being  installed prematurely though and it is probably a good idea to see how a person gets on with things first as each person is different, some people can deteriorate more quickly than others and if one person is still managing the stairs well enough for the time being then it would probably be best to carry on this way until difficulties begin to arise.

I dont think that there would be any benefit from having a stair lift installed earlier, unless there was an indirect benefit by getting one installed sooner like taking advantage of a deal or the installation falling in line with other changes to a persons home that might make sense to those involved.

While there is no way of knowing if an Alzheimer’s sufferer will use one once it is installed, you can at least avoid creating unnecessary obstacles for the person by hesitating a little before making the decision to have one installed.

The exercise that an Alzheimer’s sufferer can get is still important and as long as they and those assisting are not taking unnecessary risks by still walking up and down the stairs then this approach should be maintained until the situation becomes more challenging.

When it comes to stair lifts, they are not the type of mobility aid that you find yourself changing very often.

Unlike some mobility aids that a user might change a few times over the years, as a stair lift is fitted and requires the rails being permanently in place, until a household no longer needs to have one in place it means that many people might have the same one installed for a number of years.

Saying that, some people are long term users of a stair lift and so might have tried a few different ones over the years and have been able to experience the different makes and models available.

If you have tried out a few over the years, you may have grown to like a particular make and might even prefer to stick to that specific name, even though you might upgrade over the years.

Do you find yourself preferring a particular one?