Looking after the Elderly and Disabled

Sarah Health

It’s satisfying to know as you get older that inventions and devices and specific items for the elderly and disabled are available to make simple tasks a lot easier. The fact is that as you get older, some things that you took for granted are no longer easy to do. Walking long distances, opening jars, climbing stairs, tying shoelaces, putting on shoes, buttoning a shirt or blouse and even getting in and out of a car.

Why is that? Well, your joints get a little tighter, your back is not as supple, your muscles waste away and your tolerance and patience levels wear awfully thin. Mind you, some of these problems aren’t all part of the aging process. Arthritis is one of the main culprits for disabling people while another is strokes. There are people with disabilities and injuries that can have trouble completing or even doing simple tasks.

These issues could reduce the quality of life and affect their mental health in the process. Nonetheless, with the help of assistive technology at home, daily activities may become easier to perform. It could simplify tasks, assure better mobility and easier adaptability to do things. Now, let’s take a look at a few items that can help those that suffer from such problems.

Walker – you see lots of people using these. You can lean on them and they help your balance and aid your walking. Some people don’t bother with a walker when they go shopping because they can use a shopping trolley.

Grab Rails – these can be installed in the shower and the toilet to help people get into and out of the shower and to sit down and stand up in the toilet.

Long Shoe Horn – this tool helps people to put on their shoes without having to bend down. They are also very handy for women who wear long boots. Measuring 24″ in length, it is designed to allow you to easily slip into shoes without bending over, relieving aching backs, hips, and knees. They come with an easy grip handle, are made of ultra-strong plastic, and have a gentle curve that won’t ruin your shoes.

Kitchen Utensils – Specialised knives, forks, and shears with adapted grips allowing easy use.

Kettle Tipper – for some people lifting a kettle to pour a cup of tea is a difficult albeit simple task. This device helps a person tip the kettle without lifting it.

Openers – these are handy inventions that help a person open jars, bottles, and tins. If you have a weak grip, this is the device for you.

Medicine Dispenser – Tablet splitters and other helpful items to help administer medicines.

Hearing Aids – the name says it all. Your hearing capacity decreases as you get older. There is an enormous range of hearing aids for different levels of hearing difficulty. You can visit a site similar to https://www.earpros.com/uk/hearing-aids/compare-hearing-aids in order to see a comparison of different devices and select the most appropriate one according to your needs.

Reading Aids – this doesn’t mean glasses. We’re talking about bookholders and magnifiers.

Gripping and Turning – there are special devices that can be attached to tap handles, or to help turn keys and open doors.

Plug Pulls – a very neat invention that helps a person pull an electrical plug from the wall socket.