If you have an elderly family member who moves into your home while he or she waits for a room to come available in a care facility, you want to ensure that your loved one is comfortable. It's important to think about this person's bed — in many cases, he or she will be sleeping in your spare bedroom, but the bed that you currently have in the room may not be sufficient as-is. Before your family member moves in, it's worthwhile to visit a medical equipment rental business to obtain the necessary bed-related gear. Here are some elements that you may wish to rent.

Bed Rails

Depending on the person's health, you may be concerned that he or she falls out of bed during the night and sustains an injury. This may be a risk if the person is in the early stages of dementia and perhaps has fitful times at night. A simple solution is to rent a set of bed rails that can mount onto the bed to provide a simple barrier to keep your loved one from rolling out of bed. With one or more bed rails installed on each side of the bed, your family member may move while asleep, but should be contained on the bed.

Alarm Pad

You may be concerned about your family member getting up at night for multiple reasons. If the person is unstable on his or her feet, especially in the dark, a fall could occur. Or, if the person is dealing with dementia, he or she may wander and potentially even leave the house. A simple piece of equipment that you can rent is an alarm pad, which you can place under the mattress. The alarm pad senses changes in pressure; it's designed to sound when a lack of pressure indicates that the person on top of it has gotten up. This means that if your loved one gets out of bed, you'll quickly be able to react.

Hospital Bed

In certain instances, the bed that you have in your spare bedroom may be inadequate to accommodate your family member. In this scenario, you can actually rent a fully operational hospital bed from the medical equipment rental company like Lincoln Mobility. It has several features that are convenient, including rails, and can also be moved up and down to help someone who has mobility challenges. The bed's presence will make you satisfied that you're providing your loved one with the right bed until he or she can get into a care facility.

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