There are many senior citizens who are living alone in houses or apartments. They usually lock the main door from the inside for their own security.

I have known several cases of senior citizens having a fall at night inside an apartment. This fall might result in an injury. Even otherwise, some senior citizens, over a period of time may have become weak in the legs, so much so that they are unable to rise up from their position on the floor after a fall. As the apartment may be locked from the inside, it may be difficult for help to reach them.

This is a serious problem that many senior citizens have faced. 

But if they get some assistance in getting up, they may be able to walk again. In this brief note, I have described three simple devices that can be used by a person who is squatting on the floor, to rise up and either walk or sit on a nearby chair. In figures 1 and 2 attached, the person squatting on the floor moves near the ladder and grips the lowest rung of the ladder with their hands. They then move their hands gently to the rung above and in the process raise the body as well. As the process continues, they would raise the body further and get into a standing position. In this process, the weight of the body is borne by the arms initially, and gradually transferred to the legs as the body reaches a standing position.

Figure 3 shows a more sophisticated device. It consists of two circular rods which supports a movable platform on which a person may sit. Initially, the platform is at the ground level. It can be raised with the help of a winch, which may be operated either manually or electrically. 

A person who is sitting or lying on the floor moves near the device (by crawling or otherwise), sits on the platform. He then operates the winch either manually or electrically that raises the platform and the person sitting on it, to a comfortable height of 46 cm, which is the normal height of a chair. The person sitting on the platform can rest his legs on the floor. After this is done, the person would be able to step forward and stand on his own. This device helps a person who is lying on the floor, to get up and stand without using the strength of his arms.

The drawbacks of this device are that the equipment is bulky and more expensive. I have not yet manufactured a prototype, but when I do this, some improvements could be made, without changing the basic idea.