A home hospital bed might be your ticket to greater comfort and better sleep, and it might make life easier and less stressful for caregivers. These beds are just one of many tools that can help people age in place in the comfort of their own home. Hospital beds have some advantages over regular beds. They generally can be adjusted, allowing you to raise the head and the foot of the bed. Height adjustment is another advantage, along with the fact that they are on wheels which can be very convenient under certain circumstances. Also, they are single-width beds, so they may fit better in the space available, leaving extra room for caregivers to get around.

Whether you or a loved one is recovering from an injury or a medical procedure or just experiencing diminished mobility, a home medical bed can make life easier and more comfortable. Here’s a quick guide to home hospital beds, compiled by Mark Drug Medical Supply in Wheeling, Illinois. We hope it answers your questions. If not, you are always invited to stop by any time. We also serve those in the Chicago-adjacent North Shore.

A critical category to consider is whether you want a manual bed, an electric bed, or a semi-electric bed. Manual models are generally the most affordable option. This type of hospital bed is equipped with manual hand cranks to adjust both height and angle of the bed. It demands a fair amount of physical strength to make these adjustments, so this bed might be a poor choice for someone who needs to operate their own bed. However, if a caregiver will be operating it, this could be the right model for your needs.

In a semi-electric model, the angle of the bed is changed with an electric motor, but the height of the bed is adjusted with a manual crank. Since the height generally doesn’t need to be changed once the optimal height has been adjusted, these don’t require a lot of physical effort. To change the angle of the bed, simply push a button on a remote and let the motor do the work. These generally allow you to adjust both the head and the foot end of the bed.

Finally, an electric hospital bed is equipped with a remote that lets you change both the angle and the height of your bed. If you’ll generally be operating your hospital bed alone, you’ll love the convenience of an electric model. All-electric beds tend to be the most expensive choice. Any bed with an electric component will probably be equipped with a battery backup, so the bed can be repositioned even in the event of a power outage.