Distinguishing one day from another is one of the difficulties of living in a nursing home. Sometimes it’s also an issue for people who don’t observe a routine outside of their usual living space.
Knowing what the day and date are and anticipating activities and holidays are important tools for keeping mental skills in good shape.
I was pleased to find this calendar last year for my dad. The daily squares are large enough so that I can note activities in large letters; my dad can easily read the calendar from his wheelchair.
This calendar also has an uncommon feature: a date marker. This is a red rectangle that slides on a transparent strip of plastic. The plastic band wraps around the calendar; you move the rectangle each day to the correct date. If Dad doesn’t remember what activities are on today’s schedule — or if he’s confused about what day it is — the rectangle cues him.
The only drawback is that it’s boring! We solved that in Dad’s room by hanging three different calendars (all showing Golden Retrievers, of course) next to this calendar. They’re folded so that only the glossy photos of dogs show.
On the first of the month when I change the page of the large calendar, I also flip the canine calendar pages, revealing three new dogs-of-the-month. Practicality and glamor; you can’t beat the combination!
I found this calendar in an office supply store last year, but haven’t seen it this year. It’s called AT-A-Glance Wall Calendar with Additional Features, and I found it online at mead.com.
Members of the DIY crowd could probably find a number of ways to implement a similar date marker on almost any wall calendar by making a bright cardboard rectangle and cutting a clear plastic strip from holiday packaging.
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I’ve never liked chairs much, and work at my desk only when there’s no other option. My preferred writing mode is in, or on, a bed or couch, stretched out with my laptop in front of me. For a long time, I used a Targus laptop desk that I originally bought for travel. I like it very much, but I don’t much like having the weight of the laptop on my thighs for hours at a time.
Eventually I ran across IKEA Hacker, and discovered this mod of IKEA’s Benjamin stool. If you compute in bed or in a chair by necessity or by choice, this portable desk might enhance the experience. It’s been a great solution for me.
It took me just about 40 minutes to turn this $20 purchase into a terrific laptop desk. I use it every day, and it’s a pleasure every time. Mr. Smiley, on Hacker, used a $6 coping saw to do the cuts; I used my $6 hacksaw.
My version is a little taller than the one shown on Hacker; I had to trim the stool’s legs twice to get the height exactly where I wanted it, and the angle just right. (It’s smart to leave the stool too tall at first, if you’re not sure you’ve got the height calculated perfectly.)
Of course, this laptop desk isn’t adjustable once you’ve made it, but if $140 for a Laptop Laidback is a bit much, this could be a fine compromise.
I cut a piece of gripping mesh to fit between the laptop and the desk, which keeps the computer from sliding around. My laptop stays nice and cool, and so do I, since its underside isn’t in contact with my body. The desk’s relatively high clearance means that my lap and legs don’t feel cramped and don’t get numb when I work for hours, and if I sit up properly, the keyboard is at a perfect ergonomic angle. That’s good for my wrists and hands, too.
If you scroll down on the IKEA Hacker page, you’ll see a few more amusing variations on this theme, though nothing as useful as this particular “hack”.
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I didn’t order a copy of this book in time to do a proper review, but decided to go ahead and post anyway when a reader emailed and mentioned it. The holidays are coming, and for those who sew, it’s time to break out the needles and get to work. Let’s consider this an introduction — comments are welcome, of course, from anyone who’s used the book.
Walk and Roll is full of cheerful, sensible and clever add-ons for walkers, wheelchairs and scooters. Author Lynn Gorges’ imaginative designs rely on commonly available household linens; they’re more varied, more colorful and more creative than any I have seen commercially made. I’m guessing that the patterns themselves are fairly simple, but Lynn’s planning could save a lot of precious pre-holiday time.
Lynn has done a very nice job on the details, too. Notice the trim below the seat on the walker on the book cover? A distinctive walker pouch is often a source of pride in my dad’s nursing home — this kind of trim could escalate bragging rights (and the opportunities for social interaction) through the roof!
There are all kinds of different motifs on Lynn’s webpage: a carrier with a cupholder that looks as if it rivals the ones I’ve written about here and here, and a walker pouch that integrates a license plate. Finding these accessories for men is difficult unless black vinyl gives you a thrill; Lynn’s book lets you incorporate anyone’s interests into an attractive gift, whether the recipient is male or female.
What sets Lynn’s designs apart is the quality of her work. Though these projects are meant to be made by loving hands at home, they look as if they’ve been custom-designed just for your recipient. Lynn’s done the planning and made the patterns; you get the fun of putting it all together.
Walk and Roll , via Minding Our Elders
Special thanks to Isabelle from the blog Senior Friendly Libraries
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Metal carts are easily found and quite common. They’re ugly, though, look flimsy, and aren’t particularly user-friendly. One inventive son came up with this attractive and practical alternative for his mother. The base is a rectangular wooden box with sides just high enough to hold the tank in place. Two sturdy dowels lead from the back of the box to a thicker, horizontal dowel which forms the handle. The wheels are on a simple axle.
The sides of the box drop below the platform so that the cart is stable when upright; it rolls easily whether pushed or pulled. Mom pointed out that the handle was the perfect height for a little support when resting, saying that it felt a lot like having a cane along.
GearAbility met up with the cart’s owner at a museum while she and we were milling about. The plan was to use one of the museum’s wheelchairs for the rest of the evening; because this nifty cart, oxygen tank and all, was light and small enough to fit in the pocket behind the wheelchair’s seat, her companion had no trouble lifting it and putting it in place. If Mom wanted to, transitioning in and out of the chair to walk a bit in the galleries was going to be easy.
A cart just like this one, or a variation on the theme, would be a fairly simple project for other handy sons (or daughters). The warm look of the wood and the attractive finish made it look more like an accessory than a medical device: Form and function!
]]>The Bridge School is an internationally recognized leader in the education of children who use augmentative and alternative communication and has developed unique programs and trained highly skilled professionals in the use of state of the art assistive technology.
Laudable enough, but there’s something on their website of particular interest to GearAbility readers who care for children who use wheelchairs or walkers. The nifty images you see in this post are costumes cleverly adapted to those devices — just in time for Halloween.
In addition to Aladdin (upper left) and the Punk Rock Drummer (to the right), there are instructions for George of the Jungle, a Flower Garden, a Bulldozer and (many) more.
The page is full of helpful suggestions; click on the images for instructions for each costume. There’s also a .pdf handbook available (though registration is required to access the download).
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The Visualizer is a clever tool for checking wheelchair access on blueprints. A clear disk is attached to a moulded figure that is, in turn, attached to a wand. The figure — a representation of a person in a wheelchair — and the disk depict a wheelchair “footprint” of 30 by 48 inches, and a turning radius of 60 inches, in 1/8 inch, 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch scale. Running the tool along your building plans gives you a visual check — will the wheelchair fit or not?
If you’re considering home modifications and working from blueprints, or just from graph paper, a tool like this offers a quick and easy way to see if you’ve got the right clearances built into your plan. This kit looks sturdy, and it’s probably fun to use, but if you have $45 (USD) to spend on a couple of wands and three pieces of plastic-and-acrylic, you’ve probably got enough money to hire an architect who will have his or her own tools.
Come to think of it, an architect’s office is probably the only place where this device will get enough use to justify the price. For the rest of us, maybe a little DIY is in order: How about cutting appropriately scaled disks from transparent plastic packaging and crazy-gluing pencils to them? You’ve got your “footprint”, you’ve got your transparent disk, and you’ve got an extra $44 (USD) left in your wallet. Good deal all around.
Visualizer Set (and outrageously priced rubber stamps, too) — Good thing for professionals, maybe, for the rest of the world, not so much.
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When my dad needed a beverage holder on his wheelchair for everyday use, I was a bit stymied. There are lots of beverage holders out there, like the excellent one made by Valco that I’ve reviewed previously, but the ones that work well tend to have a hardshell design. the Valco worked great when Dad had more control over his chair, but it isn’t a good option any longer — these days he’s way too fond of crashing into walls and other immutable objects. No hardshell can stand that kind of assault on such a regular basis.
On the other hand, the cupholders that are soft-bodied are more difficult to use — they morph too much and the cup tends to get stuck on the way into or out of the holder. That wasn’t going to work for Dad, either.
Dad needed something a little different; something that combined the most practical components of each type of holder. This new cupholder needed to retain its shape while being used, have an opening wide enough to allow easy placement and removal of a cup, and had to be resilient enough to survive being regularly smashed into various hard objects.
I ended up making one (see image upper left). After measuring the cup he uses everyday, and fiddling with the cup, the angle he needed to hold it at, and the side of the wheelchair, I ended up with a simple pattern. The bottom of the holder is a half-moon shape, with the flat side next to the wheelchair. The sides of the holder come up just far enough to keep the cup from tumbling out, but are low enough so that Dad can get a grip on the cup.
For structural support, I cut up the thinnest, flexible plastic kitchen cutting board I could find. Only three pieces were necessary: the half-moon for the bottom, another flat piece for the back of the holder, and a longer rectangle to curve from the back piece across the front.
Most cupholders are round at the bottom, and ditto all the way up. I deliberately made this one semi-circular so that the cup would be held upright and somewhat snugly in the front (where the holder is round), but so that there would be more space in back (where the half-moon shape squares off). This gives the cup more wiggle-room without making it unstable, and gives Dad a little more space for his hands.
I used a nylon sports material for the fabric — it cleans easily and dries quickly. I encased the plastic half-moon shape in ripstop, sewing the edges together. Then I did the same for the plastic back piece, and again for the front rectangle.
I attached the back piece and the front rectangle together, and then attached the tube that made to the fabric-covered half-moon piece. Using foldover braid made assembly quick and easy — I didn’t have to get into the complexities of hiding seams with a more complicated plan.
Straps at the top and the side keep the cupholder from slipping around. I probably didn’t need to have the front strap, but originally I thought the holder would just go over the armrest. Instead, I unscrewed the arm rest, and put the straps under it, which effectively clamps the cupholder in place.
The cupholder tilts at a bit of an angle, but that’s deliberate, because it means that the top of the cup automatically clears the chair’s armrest. It’s turned out to be a good solution for Dad. The combination of fabric with the thin plastic inner support has proven to be just right — when smashed, this cupholder just flexes and bounces back. There’s no harm done at all, and it’s ready for use again immediately.
]]>Keep old Medical Appointment Record sheets in Section 2, and keep past Current Medications records in Section 3 for future reference. They’ll come in handy, and it’ll be much easier for you to find the information in your binder than to get your doctor to find it in the office file.
Useful tip: Never again answer when a medical assistant asks you what medications you currently take. Instead, make a copy of Current Medications every time you go to the doctor, and simply hand over the updated copy to be kept in your permanent file. Your doctor will be thrilled, once he or she gets over the shock, and you’ll be happy because your doctor will never again wonder what the assistant’s scribble really meant. Win-win for everybody! (Yes, I learned this the hard way.)
I typed up a personal Medical History for each of us, and keep a copy in Section 5. It gets updated it with each event. For everyone, this should include an inoculation history, especially tetanus shot dates.
Useful tip: Give a copy of this page to every new doctor you see. Nothing’s more helpful that a clear, concise medical history. Ever watch ‘House’? If Hugh Laurie’s patients only had your notebook, half the time there’d be no show because that elusive bit of missing medical history would be right before the infamous misanthrope’s eyes!
Each of us also has a Family Health History — this isn’t your history, it’s the history of your siblings, parents, grandparents — as much as you know. This goes in Section 6.
Useful tip: Make sure every new doctor has a copy of this, as well. It’s a lot easier to read a printed, chronologically organized history than it is to try to interpret the scribbles in the too-small boxes on the form the office gave you to fill out. “Easier to read” can also be translated as “information more accurately interpreted”.
X-rays are increasingly being copied to CD in our neck of the woods, which makes storing them in a binder really simple — you can even buy pages meant specifically for CDs. I keep these in Section 8.
Useful tip: Get a copy of every x-ray taken. If you request it at the moment of the test, you may be able to leave with it, instead of having to follow up later. I learned to do this after a famous university medical center destroyed my neurological x-rays after only seven years. What were they thinking? Seven years in neurology can be nothing in the case of slowly-changing pathology!
We keep oversized x-rays in a large artist’s portfolio — a stiff plastic-like envelope with a handle. It’s too big to fit in a file drawer (some of our x-rays are old and huge), so it’s kept in the back of a closet where it’s easy to get to as needed.
I always make sure I have a business card from every doctor we see, as well as for any hospital department or individual we might have any reason to contact again (radiology, medical records, etc., and yes, the business office, if you’re talking to them). They’re kept in Section One. Being able to get directly to a specific person or department saves time and frustration; having the right FAX number on hand is really useful when doctors are a part of your life. Seeing the number on a card avoids mis-hearing it over the phone when you’re about to FAX something. Keeping the cards means you have contact information for doctors you’ve seen in the past, but may see no longer — quite useful when it matters.
Useful tip: Insist on having copies of blood and other tests and keep them in Section Eight. Your doctor, or a specialist, may want to order ‘official’ copies, but you’ll at least have the information with you when it’s being discussed — a huge advantage for you. Pull out only the relevant test results from this section as needed for a specific appointment so that you have the right ones handy on that particular day.
Putting a record book together requires a little effort at first, but you’ll probably be amazed at the difference it makes at every appointment, and pleased at how easy it makes tracking your health. Of course, these are just guidelines — over time, you’ll adapt your own notebook(s) as you want and need to. Once it’s put together, each update takes only a few minutes — well worth it compared to the frustration of not having the information handy the next time you need it.
Useful tip: Have kids? Keeping a medical notebook from birth can streamline baby care, makes filling out school records a snap, and is an invaluable gift to send off with your young adult when he or she leaves home — as well as modeling medical empowerment for your adult ‘child’.
When it comes to medicine, ‘empowerment’ is the watchword — no one who is responsible for your medical care (or for medical care for someone you love) will ever care as much about it as you do. And no one will ever pay as much attention to your medical care, and needs, as you can and must. A well-maintained medical notebook is your first and most important weapon in the fight to maintain as high a standard of health as possible. Knowledge is power!
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Arthritis and other joint problems can cause enlarged or swollen knuckles, making it difficult to keep a guitar (or banjo) pick on the finger. I adapted a steel pick like the ones shown here (on the right in the picture) so that my dad could keep playing his instruments a little longer.
My ‘fix’ is a little crude, but it worked well for Dad. I bought two metal picks, and used pliers to bend the ‘pick’ portion on one (that would be the blade part, not the band) back and forth until it broke off. (I made sure to bend it so that the rougher edge would be on the outside of the band, not next to Dad’s finger.) This left me with a ring-like band.
Then I cut a very small strip of stretchy Lycra fabric — it’s sold in most fabric stores, as sports, dance, or athletic material. Dad wore the first pick as usual, above his enlarged knuckle. I set the second one — now just an open band of soft metal — on the same finger, but below the joint.
I lay the Lycra fabric across the band on the unaltered pick, and stretched it to reach the second band just below the knuckle, making sure that the strongest stretch of the fabric went up and down. Once I’d eyeballed the fit, I hand-stitched the Lycra to the two bands — this was easy because both bands were perforated.
This is kind of a crude fix — it’s definitely not pretty, but now my dad is able to put the pick on his finger, and then push or pull the second band down below his knuckle. The Lycra provides enough tension so that the pick bands work together to keep the pick on his finger.
Dad’s hands — and his playing — aren’t what they used to be, but having a pick that will stay on his finger has let him play quite a bit longer than he thought he could.
Dad posed willingly with his adapted pick, but I’m afraid that we exceeded the limits of my digital camera, and I wasn’t able to get a usable shot. Motivated readers will find this little project pretty easy to troubleshoot once they’ve got the picks in hand, though.
Image of guitar picks from Flickr
]]>Before each appointment, I fill out a form I made on my computer and printed up in advance. It’s my Medical Appointment Record form, which goes in Section 2. I’ve typed in cues on the page (date, doctor’s name, current symptoms, any questions or concerns). Before we go, I fill in the blanks. This ensures that we have a clear idea of what we want to know and that we’re organized and able to use the appointment time effectively.
In Section 3 I keep printed lists of current medications, with the patient’s name, the title (Current Medications) and the date in bold letters. Each medication is listed, followed by the date it was first prescribed, the strength, the dose frequency, and the diagnosis or the purpose of the medication.
I type any known medical allergies in bold, capital letters in bright red across the top of the Current Medications page. ‘Obvious’ is good where there’s potential danger.
I print two copies of the Current Medications page before each appointment — one for the notebook, which stays in Section 3, and one for the doctor’s office, which gets put into Section 2, right after the Medical Appointment Record form. Vitamins and any dietary supplements also go on this page, along with any consistently used OTC (over-the-counter) products like antacids, arthritis rubs, etc.
If we’re seeing a new doctor, a copy of the personal Medical History and one of the Family Health History also go into Section 2, so it’s easy to turn over the copies at the appointment.
Before each appointment, I put copies of any test results that are relevant to that day’s appointment into Section 4. Any test results that haven’t been discussed yet, or about which there are questions, get moved from either Section 4 (Current Test Results) or Section 8 (Other Info) into the clear pocket in the front of the binder so they can be referred to easily when talking with medical personnel.
Once we’re at the office, and as soon as we get in to the examining room, I write down the name of the nurse or assistant and his or her title on the Medical Appointment Record sheet, and make clear notes as advice is dispensed. I also record weight, blood pressure, and pulse on this page, as each is taken.
After each appointment, I review any new information, update any new medication information and make any new additions to the personal medical history so that the record book is ready to go next time it’s needed.
Making a Medical Record Book, Part 1 — Putting It Together
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