News New Mobility Magazine Discusses Rifton TRAM July 18, 2014 by Carmen Hinkey
A screenshot of New Mobility's article on Rifton's TRAM.
Word is spreading about the unique functionality of the Rifton TRAM for gait training, standing, and transfers. New Mobility has just published a great piece pointing those suffering from paralysis to the benefits available from this new device. (New Mobility is the publication of United Spinal Association.) Take a moment to read it and then share it with others who are looking for better gait training and...
Tips & Advice Step by Step Toileting with the TRAM October 05, 2016 by Lori Potts, PT
A therapist helps a student walk down the hall in a TRAM to the restroom for toilet transfers.
David Anderson is a senior physical therapist with the New York City public school system. His school obtained a Rifton TRAM to help with toileting a particular student. After some trials, he and the school OT determined the best methods for using the TRAM for this purpose and created a set of instructions for the paraprofessionals working with this student. David shared it with us and we found it so...
PT/OT Improving Functional Mobility in Home Care September 02, 2014 by Laura Laskey, PT, RN
A therapist guides a home care patient in a stand-pivot transfer using the Rifton TRAM
As a physical therapist in the home care setting, I am always looking for new and innovative ways to improve a patient’s ability to perform functional mobility and activities of daily living (ADL). Improving mobility and ADL performance helps prevent bodily deterioration, reduces caregiver stress, and enables the patient to stay at home longer before requiring institutionalized care. One of my most...
Tips & Advice Four Field-Tested Approaches For Toileting with the TRAM April 11, 2017 by Lori Potts, PT
A drawing showing a caregiver using the Rifton TRAM to help transfer a person with disabilities onto the toilet.
The Rifton TRAM is a remarkably simple solution for toilet transfers, ensuring safety and dignity for both clients and caregivers. Here are four approaches developed by clinicians in the field to accommodate different body types and impairments. Download the pdf Method 1 For client with good trunk tone and weak lower extremities View Slideshow   Method 2 For clients with moderate weight bearing...
PT/OT Workers’ Compensation Providers and the Rifton TRAM October 03, 2017 by Elena Noble, MPT
A therapist smiles at a young man standing in the Rifton TRAM patient lift acquired with a workers compensation grant.
Lifting and repositioning patients is a big part of healthcare, particularly for nurses and therapists. But how we do this is changing, based on the many studies that show how lifting patients manually without assistive equipment is causing staff injuries, lost days from work and decrease in care quality. The safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) approach advocates for patient lifts and mobility...
Tips & Advice Toileting in Schools with the TRAM July 05, 2016 by David Zoller, PT
A physical therapist uses the Rifton TRAM for toilet transfers for a student
Using the Rifton TRAM for toileting can make a huge difference for both students and staff, providing both safety during transfers to the toilet and dignity and privacy for the student. Because students with disabilities have a wide range of needs, there are many ways to use the TRAM for this purpose. Here are some methods we’ve found here at Socorro,  presented as three case studies. (I&rsquo...
Stories Never Lose Hope June 18, 2013 by Elena Noble, MPT
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The Keren Malki Foundation in Israel In 1997 Malki Roth wrote an article for Exceptional Parent magazine about caring for her two-year old sister, Haya Elisheva, who had severe mental and physical disabilities. The article was called “Never Lose Hope!” Four short years later, 15 year old Malki was killed in a senseless and tragic suicide bombing at the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem, Israel...
News MOVE ing Forward January 08, 2013 by Gilbert Thomson, PT
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An update on the MOVE Curriculum As many of you will know, we at Rifton have worked with MOVE International over many years. For those who don’t know, the MOVE program is an activity-based curriculum designed to teach students with disabilities basic functional motor skills of sitting, standing, walking and transitions needed for life within the home and community environments. The last fifteen years...
News Sharing Our Abilities June 12, 2012 by Mark Greenyer
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I just returned from the Abilities Expo 2012 in New Jersey. Those of you who’ve been there will know the parade of families and caregivers I saw all weekend – families who are struggling against enormous odds. Strangely, though, I came home enormously uplifted, and I feel like telling you about some of the people I met. First there was a young couple with their four-year-old son Tommy (not his...