Aids for reach and ease of use

The last post was about aids to assist when dressing and this one complements it to some degree.

This post looks at some of the gadgets that can help with reaching and stretching, or the reduction of any reaching and stretching that is required to perform certain tasks.

Reaching, twisting and bending ultimately become a problem for just about everyone as they get older. But a number of medical conditions can make these types of movements challenging at any age.

Injury, illness, arthritis or recovery from surgery can all result in the body being less supple and flexible than it could be and, when this is the case, aids with long handles can make life much easier.
Examples of long handled aids are many and amongst the most popular are various brushes. These can be brushes for the hair, or brushes that make it possible to reach around to the back and lower legs when having a shower or bath.

The shape of long handles can also assist in their use. The handles of some garden tools project at 90 degrees to the standard tool in order to save stresses on the wrist and lower arm.

Another branch of gadget like aids is aimed at making certain hard to hold items and objects more tactile and ergonomic. A good example is the opening of a door which requires the locating and turning of a key followed by the twisting of a handle.

Many modern lock keys are small and, although convenient to store in a pocket, are difficult to hold for those with gripping issues. Special key holders and key fobs can make these small items easier to hold and manipulate.

The handles on certain “knob style” doors may also be hard to grasp and special knob holders can make them easier to use.

Within the home utilities like taps (faucets) can be stiff to turn and hard to grip, especially when wet. However, tap turners can be fitted to the tap heads or carried around and used when required. Many of these aids are capable of fitting most tap heads and they have a long lever arm that makes turning them effortless.

More specialist devices can be essential for personal hygiene in the bathroom. Using toilet paper is a particular challenge that involves twisting, bending and a high degree of dexterity that is not always possible for some people. The available options are seeking help from a carer, or using a special toilet wiping aid, the latter of which retains independence and dignity.

Bed handles and rails can make the getting in and out of a bed much easier and less physically strenuous. These simple but effective handles run under a mattress and then project upwards from the side of the bed. They are an essential aid for many.

A number of small items like those used for personal grooming can also benefit from longer or angled handles. A good example is tweezers and another can be a nail file. Easy hold large grip handles can also add to the ease of use of these aids.

Overcoming dressing difficulties

Most healthy people take mobility and the everyday tasks that they overcome without effort for granted. For most people, at least until they reach their later years, only jobs that require physical effort, strength or a special skill are deemed hard and challenging.

There is however an increasingly large section of all western societies where many of the day to day chores that able bodied people take in their stride are positively difficult. These tasks, chores and processes may not be physically demanding or require any great skill, but for someone who has trouble moving, lifting, bending or holding (with their hands), these activities may be very difficult.

Naturally walking and staying mobile, both in the home and outdoors, is an obvious example, however tasks like personal hygiene and even being able to dress and undress oneself can become a very demanding chore for older people and those with illnesses and conditions that reduce and restrict movement.

So what is available and what kind of aids and inventions can be used to help?

Mobility can be restored in some part by wheelchairs and mobility scooters and bath lifts, lifting toilets seats and the like can all help with personal hygiene. This still leaves the problem of putting on clothes.

There are however many clever and highly effective aids that can make getting dressed firstly, an independent and dignified process and, secondly, a much easier and less challenging one.

The aids that are available for dressing are quite extensive and they range from clever pocket sized tools that can button and unbutton a button hole, to frames that can be used to help pull pants up.

Some of these tools are multi purpose and can perform more than one task whilst other are task-specific.

There are also some clever alternatives to things like regular shoelaces that make wearing shoes easier. One example is coiled laces that can be pulled to a comfortable tightness before being released so that the “coil effect” of the laces hold the pre-set tightness without the need for a bow or knot.

Other dressing aids include dressing sticks that can be of great assistance when it comes to putting on a shirt or a jacket. These sticks have a hook or claw at one end and this makes it possible to pull part of a garment that would otherwise be out of reach.

Many clever aids and variations on aids are available for dressing and they even run to shoe removers and sock lifters – the feet quite naturally being one of the hardest parts of the body to reach and stretch to.

Although reduced mobility, resulting from any cause, can be traumatic and distressing, there are now more ways of regaining or extending mobility than ever before. New aids, tools and physical therapies are constantly coming to the fore and there are very few tasks or activities for which some kind of assistive device has yet to be designed.