It was time to roll up my sleeves and get down to serious work. Buying an accessible van from a dealer wasn’t going to work for me and my dad, so this meant that I’d have to go elsewhere. It also meant a whole new approach. If I was going to buy from an individual, I needed a lot of information — and some way of screening out potential problems.
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Clothing and Communication
Every day when I visit my dad, I’m reminded again that even something as simple as clothing can be a means of stimulating communication in a nursing home. One resident in my dad’s nursing home is always dressed head-to-toe in coordinating fleece or velour. Though the clothing is simple, the pants elastic-waisted, and the jackets large-buttoned, she somehow always looks, well, elegant.
Armed with the information I’d learned in Buying A Used Accessible Van, Part 1, I headed down to the dealer.
There’s a fair amount of wheeled or semi-wheeled gear in my dad’s room at his nursing home, along with an extra chair that is generally used by guests. Most of this stuff is kept on the far side of the room, so that Dad doesn’t have to fight the gear he’s not using. It’s always a little tricky swapping out the pieces when they’re needed, but I really complicated things when I moved Dad’s phone and ran a line around that part of the room, creating lots of opportunities to get the equipment tangled up with the cord.
For a while after my Dad arrived here on the east coast, I was able to use a Multi-Lift transfer system in my sedan to move him from his wheelchair into my car. When that was no longer practical, I began to think about a wheelchair accessible van. I’d seen them everywhere, of course, but had never really looked at them in detail, so I began by going back to the dealer who had sold me the Multi-Lift.
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Shoe Lace Replacement
Wear Ease offers a different take on the difficulties shoelaces sometimes pose. Rip the laces out and replace them with these simple hook-and-loop strips.
Anchored in two eyelets on either side of the tongue, the strap folds over and fastens with hook-and-loop tape. A D-ring makes grabbing and manipulating easier. One set works for shoes with 2-3 pairs of eyelets; two pair may be needed for 4-6 pair of eyelets.
Available at Elderstore in black, brown, tan and white, though the website only lets you check off tan or brown; a phone call may be in order if you want white or black.
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Trips are a big deal at my dad’s nursing home. The recreation department does a great job of scheduling a variety of outings that otherwise home-bound residents can enjoy. Finding the right venue can be a challenge sometimes, though. Take the pizza outing, for example.
Blondie, my dad’s loyal companion, got a Christmas present herself this year: Oscar, a Golden Retriever puppy from the same company that made Blondie. Oscar (that’s the name Dad chose — on the website, the Douglas Company shows the same puppy named ‘Bella’) is full of spunk and personality. His arrival has sparked a lot of conversation — Blondie was clearly nonplussed when this little upstart showed up. But she’s learned to defer to the obstreperous youngster, and they’re fast pals now.
My dad’s old cordless phone was a mixed blessing. The ‘cordless’ part was great because it was easy to use anywhere in the room, but, like most of the cordless units available, the phone and its charger base were lightweight — the charger cord weighed so much more than the base that the phone was often pulled onto the floor.
A few generations ago, brushing hair was a crucial, and pleasurable, every day routine for many women. These days, few people have time for lengthy sessions in front of the dressing table, but even modern hair needs a good brushing and some attention now and then. Easy enough, unless you have a shoulder injury or arms that don’t like being raised above shoulder height, in which case there’s nothing easy about it; getting to the top of your head to shampoo, to brush, or to comb can seem like climbing Mount Everest (but with bad hair!).