USEFUL TIPS FOR THE ELDERLY, LESS ABLE OR INFIRM

Courtesy of Joe Price 

Life can be difficult at times for most of us, even those lucky enough to enjoy good health and mobility.  It can, however, be even harder for the elderly, less able or infirm, when even the simplest of tasks can be very hard to accomplish.

It is amazing, however, just how innovative these people can be in finding solutions to help alleviate their difficulties and, thereby make their life just that little bit easier.

I was both delighted and grateful to receive some tips from Joe Price, who is himself disabled.  He has kindly agreed for me to reproduce these on site in the hope that it may be helpful to others.

I often go to town with friends or family and my car is still here. Neighbors come by for coffee and check up on me and seeing the car they would think something had happened to me and have the manager come unlock the door....SO....I have a smiley face in the window when I am home and frowning face when I am gone....and the neighbor knows I am OK.

The knobs to my oven and stove top are on the back of the top out of my reach from my chair. So I took a 36 inch piece of PVC pipe and cut a notch on one end that fits the knobs. On the other end is a strong magnet that lets me pickup metallic lids, etc. without bending down....and I have a way to hang it to the fridge until needed.

I use the medicine bottle markings with the ABCD and I also keep a second set at my daughter's house as I never know when I may be staying over longer than expected. I carry a card in my wallet from each doctor treating me and on the back is listed each of the medications he has prescribed should I become where I can't respond to care givers. I also have a card from the pharmacy where all medical info is kept. (I have to take 28 different prescriptions with a total of 47 pills a day...and hard to keep up with them all.)

I keep one of those disposable phones that I buy minutes for but it is also capable of calling 911 even when there are no more minutes or days left on it.

I have always loved to cook and trying out new dishes...but can't cook as much since my health got so bad. Luckily I have many young neighbors that are still learning and to impress their husband they come to me for help. They bring everything needed to cook a dish and while she is cooking I have some pretty young lady to talk with and I usually end up with a meal out of the lesson. I really love this one - I think this is something we could all try to do as everyone is a "winner".

 

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Joe has also sent me the following tip which he thought maybe useful for others.  This information has been circulating since 2006 and, although it does have some merit, it is perhaps unwise to rely on it as the only form of alarm.  Most of us have become 'immune' to alarms as they are so easily set off by birds, animals even vibrations.

PUT YOUR CAR KEYS BESIDE YOUR BED AT NIGHT

Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.

This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this:

It's a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or garage 

If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break in your house, odds are the burglar rapist won't stick around... after a few seconds all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won't want that. And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there.....

If someone is prone to falling tell them to carry their car keys with them in case they falls outside. They can activate the car alarm to alert others that there is a problem.

Obviously this is only relevant to those with car keys that have a 'panic' button on the fob.

INTRODUCING “ICE” which stands for “in case of emergency”. The idea is that in your mobile phone contact list, you create a new entry called ICE. You then insert a telephone number for the person you would want the emergency services to contact in the event of an emergency. You could in fact have say “ICE 1” for your next of kin, “ICE2” for another family member in event that next of kin was not available etc.

In the event of an emergency, say where you are rendered unconscious and emergency services are in attendance and need to contact your next of kin, they recover your mobile phone and immediately search under your contacts for your “ICE” contact. This procedure is now widely used amongst all emergency services and is an easy way for them to identify your next of kin should they consider that necessary.

More useful tips to help the disabled, elderly and sick.