House modifications
By MP on Thursday 21 September 2006, 18:28 - Reference - Permalink
One of the first things that happened once we had the ACAT assessments done of mum and dad was that an Occupational Health and Safety Officer came to have a look at the house and advise on what ought to be done. Much of her advice was common sense and easily taken: remove rugs with curled edges, remove rugs from slippery surfaces, keep floors clear, and so on.
There were three more substantial suggestions for improving our parents' house:- Provide grab-rails in the shower
- Paint white lines on the outside steps
- Level off the head of a drain just outside the gate
A couple of days later the handyman turned up and started work. This caused great confusion for my dad, who couldn't understand why any of the work was being done - even when I explained that it was all for safety. I think dad thought I'd gone a bit mad, actually. Anyway, within a couple of hours all the work was finished and I paid the bill, which turned out to be quite reasonable anyway. Mum was plainly delighted to see the handrails in the shower, but could not be encouraged to get in there and christen them. Dad kept asking how long it would take for the paint to dry so he could walk down the steps. When I finally gave him the OK he tried them out, making a great pantomime of stepping on each new line - holding each foot in the air for so long that I thought he was liable to crash down at any moment.
In fact, while the handyman had been painting the steps he offered the opinion that they would all have to be demolished soon and replaced with a ramp. I acknowledged that this might one day be necessary, but for now we could do without it.
In the interval since, I've made it my business to keep floors, and especially walkways clear. It is a bad house in this respect. The hall dog-legs through the house. There are fragile glass doors between the lounge and the hall, and they do not close properly. The armchairs are oversized for the house and act as major obstacles. There is a change of floor level at the bathroom door. The toilet is cramped and inconveniently situated at the back of the laundry, which is packed with unused items. My dream is to strip the house of all its inessentials, leaving only what is needed or appreciated by mum and dad. I doubt I'll ever realise it.
Comments
Whoa, am I grinning at this post! Our house also could use a number of renovations that would make both my mother's and my life easier. A (very) few of them have been done. Some of them would be impossible to accomplish without reconstructing the living room from the foundation up. Some of them won't be done because, while they would be nice, they aren't necessary. As well, our house is filled to the brim with my mother's stuff, some of it in boxes. Neither she nor I are much in the way of housekeeping, there's always something we'd rather do, so I've become a living mobility assistance device around our home.
A note on ramping instead of steps, though. I'll bet my mother is probably lots less capable, mobility-wise, than your parents. I've noticed, though, that she is much more agile on steps than she is on ramps. It's curious, but I finally figured out why: Her relationship to gravity on steps doesn't throw her out of balance. A ramp, though, changes that relationship just enough to throw my mother's balance off. She isn't so bad, with her walker going up a ramp, although it bothers her and her preference is to have me carry the walker up so she can use any steps provided (which I allow if there aren't too many steps). Going down any ramp, though, even one with a very slight decline, throws her into a panic every time, with or without a walker, and rightfully so. Her muscular faltering is such that her walker easily escapes her control and threatens her with falls. Our driveway, which we often use for walkering practice, has a slight incline, so we have a way to work on this but, frankly, her muscles are no longer able to easily incorporate this and her practice doesn't any longer make perfect. I mention this because ramping is always pushed for older people but, you know, my experience with a frail Ancient One tells me that the rampers may not really have an accurate bead on this recommendation. I imagine that the effect of ramping differs from case to case, but I would suggest, before you replace steps with ramps, observe your parents' relationship with both. Steps might be preferable for them.
Gail Rae
Good point. I shall watch mum and dad next time we encounter a ramp. Your comment reminds me of an incident one evening a couple of years ago. My mother lost balance and fell over on Greg's drive. It is quite steep. I am sure the special geometry required to ascend safely eluded mum, and she just keeled over.
Your response reminded me of a falling incident my mother experienced a some years back at our previous home in Mesa. That home had a fairly steep inclined driveway, as well. One day, when I wasn't home, she headed out to get the mail, fell and couldn't get up. A neighbor saw her (luckily, that neighborhood was filled with busy bodies) and came to her rescue. The neighbor also knew that my mother was a bit light on her mental feet, so she made a point of looking for my return and letting me know what happened. As I look back, now, I think that was one of the first subconscious indications that I needed to be careful about ramping our residences.