If not to heaven , or at least to the second floor.
One of the keys to staying at home is access to that bathroom /bedroom on the second floor of older homes with older people in them. Not everyone has $50,000 or the space to put on an addition. Stair-lifts have much improved since my days as a rehab counselor. Boomers may actually end up really using stair lifts. Walking stairs is good exercise but not always practical. Not everyone can find their little rancher on one level or is willing to move to a townhouse or condo/apartment. .
The width of the stairs used to be a restriction, but now with base in the floor anchoring and fold up options, more homes can accept a mechanized stair lift. Going around landings will cost up to two and a half times as much, but it can be done. An evaluation must be done on site and the frailty of the person using it has to be a major consideration. As they say an authorized representative will be happy to come to your home and sell you what you need.
In our review section I hope to catalog opinions of those who have utilized this their parents or otherwise to discuss the pro and cons. Hopefully not the cons.