Needing help to move, cannot stand up anymore.

I think your best plan is to get a referral for an occupational therapist to visit. They will have the knowledge of suitable aids. RA itself should not preclude hoisting, but may be there is insufficient room by the toilet or is your mother in law's size a problem? Can your mother in law use an indoor rollator ? The latter transformed my mother's ability to get around inside safely. She kept falling when trying to use walking sticks. The indoor rollator she uses has a braking system so that it can be locked to make it safe to use when getting out of bed or a chair, or up from the loo. She has very twisted fingers, but finds it easy to push and it supports her.

Hi thank you for your reply. An occupational therapist has asked for a video of the way she is put to bed so they can look at it from there. My partner tells me that the therapists are completely stuck for what to do. I can't believe that there is nothing at all? She currently has an electric wheelchair and due to steroids is overweight. They say that there is not a hoist big enough as it will squeeze her joints.

It is difficult. My mother has the opposite problem and is too thin. There is an exhibition in Birmingham at the NEC from the 29 Apr to 1st May. Called Naidex Entry is free. There is a big bariatric market so their should be products that is suitable for your mother in law, unfortunately there is no guarantee that the NHS/ Social services will provide. I gave up with them, and bought the most appropriate aids. They would not have provided the indoor rollator, which improved my mother's mobility and stopped the frequent falls. She got exhausted with a Zimmer frame. The exhibition is good in that at least you can see the products from the many exhibitors.There may be standing aids to help get out of bed, and better support/ grab rails to have by the toilet. Good luck with the OT.

This may sound crazy, but have you tried putting her in different shoes/slippers?  I think the shoes/slippers you wear, work as a kind of stimulus (maybe similar to acupuncture) and if you cahnge the style of shoes/slippes, it can have remarkable curative effects.   Even  if she is in bed, try putting on different slippers/shoes to cause a different stimulation.  I expeirenced something that was nothing short of a miracle when I changed the style of slippers that I had been wearing for several years.  I was walking with a stick, in a lot of pain, could not bend and heading for a wheelchair, and purely by changing the style of slippers, I can now walk without a stick, and am in minimal pain.  It was literally miraculous and happened in the space of only a few hours and in my opinion it was the style of slippers, combined with changing from carpet to a hard wooden floor that had actually CAUSED my arthritis.

I wish you well with your mother.  If you believe in reincarnation that does always help, because one day you know she will be reborn into a new and healthy body but in the meantime, do try my suggestion.

What have you got to lose?