102: Limited funds? Easy Fixes to Boost Safety.

Show Notes:

• Anti-Slip Shower Stickers
• Split Shower Curtain  
• Video on how to cut slits in a plastic shower curtain.
• Corner shower organizers
• Clamp on bathtub grab bar – outside ledge
• Door Draft Stoppers
• Long-handled door stoppers
• Wireless remote wall switch control 
• Indoor motion sensor lights
• Rolling Laundry Hampers (Target) (Amazon)
• Outdoor porch tables
• Rolling Grocery Cart , Rolling Beach Carts 
• Wireless Doorbell  
• Smart Watches – This is a general link. More research is needed to determine if these will connect to a cochlear implant.
• Wifi smoke and carbon monoxide detector
• Raised Dots or Velcro
• Check out our educational material (specifically course 4) for more products you can use in all areas of the home to make everyday tasks easier. Sign up for free!

Transcript:

Sarah: [00:00:00] You’re listening to Good Fit Poor Fit. Our podcast is part of The UD Project, a small business rooted in occupational therapy that looks at how the design of a home environment impacts how well people of different ages and abilities perform everyday activities. We chat about this unique perspective to boost your knowledge and help you consider what can be changed in communities like yours.

Learn more about our work at universaldesign.org.

Sarah: Good Fit Poor Fit listeners, we are back at the mic to chat with Ashley Roberts Dulany again. She’s an OT with lots of experience in home modification and making recommendations to clients in their homes. Today, she’s going to guide us through some small gadgets and easy fixes for improving home safety.

So if you have a few problems you’re trying to solve in your home or someone else’s, get out your paper and pens or your [00:01:00] go-to note taking device, and let’s go ahead and get some tips.

Ashley Roberts Dulany: Thank you. I’m happy to be back. For those of you who didn’t hear the last episode I was on, I have some background experience in home safety assessments that often occur in small apartments or with limited budgets for modifications. We wanted to talk about some of the inexpensive gadgets and quick fixes I’ve come across that can help improve home safety.

Rebecca: I’m so excited we’re doing this episode. Thank you for being with us again. I think it’s a common misconception that all things that improve safety and accessibility are innately expensive, which I think sometimes stops people from pursuing them altogether. So I’m thrilled that we’re gonna be talking about this and some of the more financially accessible options today. Where should we start, Ashley?

Ashley Roberts Dulany: Well, as we know, one of the most common spots for a fall is around the bath or shower. One of the most popular quick fixes for a shower floor that tends to get slick is anti-slip shower stickers. They’re typically about [00:02:00] eight inches long and an inch wide, and they come with a little plastic scraper to push all the air out from under them to ensure a good stick. I like stickers as an option because they’re lower maintenance than a bath mat that may need to be pulled up after each shower to prevent mold growth. And they’re more versatile because you can use them to cover any size or shape of space.

Sarah: Oh, I love this idea, and I actually wish I would’ve known about these. I’ll have to tell you that when my daughter was younger and wanted to take a bath, she would stand up and slip and slide everywhere in that tub. We also tried a bath mat with lots of those mesh holes in it, but honestly, when the water filled the tub, the mat would just bubble up and make it even more of a trip hazard.

That poor bath mat was just hung in the back of the shower with not a lot of use. So I am really glad to hear about this inexpensive sticker option.

Ashley Roberts Dulany: Also for anyone who uses a tub transfer bench in a tub shower combo, a split shower curtain is a must. Split [00:03:00] shower curtains have little slits or cutouts for the legs of a transfer bench. So instead of leaving the shower curtain open or bunching it up over the bench, you can fully close the shower curtain. This prevents water from escaping onto the floor and prevent slipping hazards. It’s an easy hack to DIY too if you’re not in the market for a new shower curtain.

Sarah: Yes, this is super smart and very easy just to get those scissors out and cut the plastic curtain if needed. I found a video of an OT doing this, and I can link it in the show notes. I also can’t stress enough having all your shower stuff close by, especially if it’s difficult or unsafe to be picking things up off the floor.

There are so many great organizers out there that can be nestled in a corner at different heights that are easy to reach for multiple people that use the shower.

Ashley Roberts Dulany: Great point. Speaking of showers and bathtubs, of course it’s ideal to have grab bars built securely into the wall for bathtub transfers, but in some cases, it’s not an option to install a grab bar near the [00:04:00] bathtub due to financial limitations or in temporary living situations. In these cases, a clamp on grab bar that goes over the ledge of the bathtub is a popular solution. As long as the tub’s wall is flat, so the clamp can securely attach and it’s not a fiberglass tub, which can easily crack, a clamp on grab bar can work great. They make adjustable height clamp on grab bars too, so you can find the perfect fit for the user. You’ll still want to check the clamp every now and then to make sure it’s still secure. I would not recommend the type of grab bar that suctions to the wall as those are not sturdy enough to take much pulling and can easily become loose.

Rebecca: These are great tips, Ashley. Especially making this distinction between the suction grab bars and the clamp ones. We’ve definitely advised against the suction one several times here on Good Foot Poor Fit, so I appreciate you really driving that home. What other areas of the house are essential for us to consider?

Ashley Roberts Dulany: Moving to the entryway. A lot of people use draft stoppers to [00:05:00] prevent bugs, rodents, or air from entering under the door. Traditional door snakes can be a huge tripping hazard or require a person to bend down to move them every time they open the door. An adhesive or screw on door sweep can be a great alternative to a door snake. These door sweeps are often made of aluminum or silicone and come with strong adhesive to stick them to the door, or screws to attach into the door for a more permanent installation. They move with the door so there’s no tripping hazard and no need to bend down to the floor.

Sarah: I honestly have never thought about this as needing to be modified. But you are so right. I love the idea of attaching it to the door so there’s no worry of it getting in the way or requiring someone to bend down. This also reminds me of some long handled door stoppers I recently saw on Amazon. Traditional door stoppers also require people to push things with their feet or bend down.

Ashley Roberts Dulany: That’s a great idea. I [00:06:00] hadn’t heard of longhand door stoppers. As we mentioned in the last episode, adequate lighting is a major factor in preventing falls. During a home safety assessment. One thing I look for is a light switch at the entry to each room. When there’s no light switch on a person’s path, we can add a wireless remote wall switch control. This consists of a receiver block that plugs into the wall outlet and a wireless switch that you can mount to a wall or carry around with you. The appliance you want to control, typically, a lamp plugs into the receiver. This way a person can turn a lamp on and off from the entry to the room or even from bed. Being able to turn a light on without walking through the dark to get to it is so important in preventing falls.

Rebecca: Absolutely. This is a great point. I also think that some folks will use motion sensored lights for areas like this. So once the door swings open, it triggers the motion sensored lights to turn on, and the space is at least partially lit. I know these can also be [00:07:00] used for lighting a course from a bed to a bathroom for nighttime use as well.

And I think these, you can typically buy fairly cheap online and install them yourself with minimal tools.

Ashley Roberts Dulany: Yes! Another great swap for convenience and fall prevention is a rolling laundry hamper. As long as you don’t have stairs to contend with, a rolling hamper can be a lifesaver for preventing back strain and conserving energy. In the same vein, a rolling cart for bringing in groceries can also be a huge help. Another back saving hack is to keep a small table on the front porch for packages so you won’t have to bend down to pick them up off the ground.

Sarah: I use these items myself, and I am a 100% convert when it comes to rolling things around the house. We used to live in an apartment complex and I had to get from our car up the elevator, three flights and down a long hallway with groceries and everything else you carry into your home. So a cart was a game changer.

I slowly saw [00:08:00] other people taking notice from college age students and retirees. They were all following suit. Even funnier, when our daughter was little, I would put her in the cart. It was kind of like a beach cart and let her ride in it if she fell asleep in the car. That way as she got bigger, I didn’t have to carry her and all of our things in my arms at the same time.

It’s a great little hack.

Ashley Roberts Dulany: That’s awesome. That cart was multipurpose. Another thing I look for in home assessments is the ability for a person to be alerted if a visitor is at their door in case of an emergency. In apartments without a doorbell or when the resident is hard of hearing, a wireless doorbell can be a great low cost option. There are some inexpensive high quality wireless doorbells that stick onto the doorframe and come with a loud receiver that you plug into an outlet in the home. While you can’t talk to visitors through them and they don’t have video, these wireless doorbells don’t require a subscription and work great for the purpose of alerting a person in [00:09:00] the home to visitors.

Rebecca: I love that I didn’t know that there were wireless doorbells without subscriptions. Similar to this, I have a friend who has a cochlear implant who really struggles to hear when someone’s at the door or if there’s some sort of emergency alarm going off. And I know this isn’t really low budget, but there are some smart watches that can connect to devices like this, like the doorbell too, that can then vibrate to alert someone that there’s a person at the door or an emergency alarm or something like that.

Again, that could shift out of the low budget framework, but there also are some smart watches nowadays that are a bit lower price than they used to be.

Ashley Roberts Dulany: Great point. One more gadget I like for peace of mind about home safety is a wifi smoke and carbon monoxide detector. These devices connect to your home internet and will send an alert to an app on your phone if they detect anything. When I’m not at home, it’s nice to know that I’d be alerted right away if anything happened that could harm my pets or possessions.

Sarah: Exactly. I know. I’m like that too. You [00:10:00] just wonder what’s going on at home and making sure everything’s still okay. So these are some really great low cost options that help provide additional independence and safety. One more I’ll add because I love a good visual and textured cue, are raised dots with stickers on them. I remember when my grandmother was struggling with her cognition and my grandpa who had glaucoma and reduced vision was helping her with food prep, they both struggled to operate the microwave, for different reasons. I suggested to my dad that putting a Velcro dot on the most commonly used buttons would make it safer and easier for them to find what they needed. I think this idea of raised dots or Velcro stickers can be utilized in a variety of places like the microwave, like I described, stove top, laundry machines, just as a way to help people focus on the most important things versus get overwhelmed with all of the different buttons and options. Ashley, I really appreciate you joining us [00:11:00] today for all of these fun tips and gadgets. Listeners, if you’re interested in any of these products we talked about today, we’ve got a lot of links in the show notes so you can see them for yourself.

Ashley Roberts Dulany: Thank you so much for having me.

Sarah: You are welcome and I hope that listeners, you got some ideas to make things easier within your home. If you want even more ideas and you’re excited about what you heard today, be sure to check out course number four from our educational material. Again, that link is in the show notes.

But we go through every area of the home and we have a bunch of products, and descriptions, so you can click the link and maybe add something into your own home.

Rebecca: Awesome. Thanks Sarah and Ashley! I appreciate all of the insights and all of the ideas that we’ve shared today. We’ll be back soon.

Sarah: Thanks for listening to Good Fit Poor Fit. If you want to learn more… first, find more episodes with transcripts and show notes at goodfitpoorfit.com. Don’t forget to subscribe! Second, [00:12:00] check out our courses at universaldesign.org.

We cover housing topics like advocacy, collaboration, home modification, universal design and task adaptations. Lastly, if you have questions or topics you’d like us to discuss, email us at [email protected]. Thanks for fitting us into your day.