Out of the Box Holiday Gift Ideas

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**Download our complete Alphabet of Gift Ideas and see what you can do for the special people in your life.**

If you have friends or family that are older or that have significant disabilities you may be at a loss for a great gift idea. At Home Access Solutions we’ve put together a fun little gift list from A to Z with interesting items and ideas. 

To listen to a re-play of a great radio show sponsored by Financial Visions and  hosted by Cathy Wyatt and Dale Percival that covers more  “Out of the Box”  thinking about holiday gifts for Seniors and People with disabilities, go to this link. www.financialvisionsllc.com  and click on “The Art of Aging” Radio Programs.   I was there along with Jim Brown, the gift planning officer for the American Red Cross and Jim Shaffer of Counterparts.  Even I was surprised and amazed by some of the original and useful gift ideas.


We are heading into the season when many of us start thinking about gifts for the people we care about. Giving a gift is a loving gesture. The best gifts are those people treasure long after they are unwrapped and ones that have meaning and purpose. Sometimes it is hard to come up with that perfect gift. We all know people who are hard to buy gifts for. They either don’t want anything or have everything they need. But I’m talking about the other folks who are hard to buy for. If the People we care about have disabilities that are so severe they limit what they can do or use, it is often difficult to think of really meaningful or useful gifts. Let’s think out of the box and skip the same old knick knacks and aftershave collections! How much of that stuff can one house hold? Gifts don’t have to be expensive or fancy, but they can change a person’s life for the better.

Even Santa Can Use Independence

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Someone recently told me that “my kind of equipment” wasn’t really the kind of thing people gave at the Holidays.  I must vehemently disagree!  How priceless is the gift of independence and safety?

I urge you to think of access, independence, and convenience for your family and friends who have barriers in their homes or who are providing care for others.  Whether you come up with remodeling, helpful equipment, or just the gift of your time, your gift will make a huge difference in their lives every day.

Give us a call if you need help thinking of something based on a person’s needs and abilities.  Enjoy 10% off anything on our web site www.HomeAccessSolutions.com  with the coupon code GIFT2011 through December 16, 2011.  If you like the car mobility items you saw on this video visit our web site. They are on sale and you can still use the coupon.

A Home Feature is Only a Barrier if a Person Can’t Use the Feature Safely

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Steps actually provide access to your home if you are able to use them.  They aren’t a barrier unless you are unable to use them safely.   That is one of the interesting things to consider when you think about residential accessibility.   Home features like steps, deep tubs, or under cabinet storage, that may be very helpful to us during one phase of our lives, may become a barrier in another phase or if we become injured. That is why there isn’t a list of home features that must be changed to make a home truly accessible to everyone.  Everyone is different.

Universal Design is a concept of making an environment as useable as possible for as many people as possible, but residential accessibility is a personal customization to match a personal need.  What it takes to make a home accessible for different people may have similarities, but will vary based on an individual’s goals, skills, medical condition, preferences, budget, social environment, and existing physical environment.  When you are planning to make modifications or choosing equipment to reduce barriers in your home, you should follow a process we call “prescriptive access design” .   Our handout “5 Tips For Successful Home Accessibility Remodeling” is a good starting place.  Make sure the solution you choose matches your goals, current and future abilities, and preferences in order to make sure the solution will actually work the way you expect it to.

Access to your house is critically important and there is nothing wrong with having a ramp, power door openers, stair glides, etc.  Just as access needs vary from person to person, so do personal preferences.  Sometimes access designs that aren’t well thought out might be noticeable or obtrusive.  If appearances are important to you, it is often possible to use universal design concepts to blend the access features in, to minimize their visual impact, or at the very least to make them removable when you no longer need them.   Interestingly, some health professionals and construction professionals are not well versed in this concept.  There are some people who still believe that they must follow American with Disability Act guidelines when providing residential access and do not address the individual needs of their customers.

A home feature is only a barrier if a person can’t use the feature safely. Residential access can be both customized and lovely.  If done well, it can have either a positive or a neutral impact on the value of a home.

Pets as Falling Risks

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I spend a lot of time in people’s homes helping them identify and remove things that could cause them to fall.  One great risk I see is one that most of us wouldn’t part with if our life depended on it- and sometimes it does.

Pets, dogs and cats are an important part of many American families.  Often they are a senior’s or a single person’s only live in companion.   Unfortunately these wonderful companions can also present a significant hazard.

In 2006 the Center for Disease Control produced a report indicating that over 86,000 falls a year could be attributed to pets and pet items.  http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5811a1.htm While injuries were more frequent among younger people, the highest fracture rates were among people 75-84 years and up.  Most of these fall injuries occurred in or around the home.   How unfortunate that the companions that contribute to the well being and mental health of people living at home are also such a large contributor to the physical risks within our homes.

The good news coming out of the study was that the likelihood of pet related falls can be reduced through raising awareness that pets and pet items are a fall risk, identifying activities which are higher risk, and decreasing risk by providing obedience training.   In Omaha, NE there are two groups that the Greater Omaha National Safety Council’s FIRST (Fall Intervention Reaching Seniors Together) task force is working with to decrease the number of falls related to pets.

"FIRST has collaborated with the Omaha SPCA to produce a brochure that can be distributed to increase awareness of the correlation between Pets and Falling.  The brochure identifies some solutions to share.  Call the council at (402) 896-0454 for a copy to share with someone you know is at risk and visit the web site, www.F1RST.com  for additional tools to reduce the risk of falling in the home.

Professor Joy D. Doll, OTD, OTR/L and some Occupational Therapy students from the Department of Occupational Therapy School of Pharmacy & Health Professions at Creighton University Medical Center are conducting a research project entitled Exploring the Perceived Impact of Pets as a Hazard in Older Adults Fall Prevention in partnership with F1RST task group.  They are seeking individuals 65 and older who own a pet or pets to complete a short  and private online survey about falls and pets.  All surveys are anonymous and  it is strictly confidential and secure.

If you would like to help by taking the survey or passing it on to a person who is over 65, email me and I will send you a link for the survey.   BevVan@HomeAccessSolutions.com 

So share this information and please pass on the life saving brochure and survey to seniors that you know.   Our homes should be safe places and that includes homes with pets!"

Image by: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I want to transfer anywhere- absolutely anywhere!

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Imagine that you aren’t able to get up out of that chair that you are sitting in right now.   How long could you stand it?   Would you be happy to even get a little help after an hour or two, even if it was only enough to move you into one other spot?  What if you could move even more?

The thing that I like most about a ceiling or wall based motorized transfer system is the freedom it can provide to a person with a disability and their caregivers.   A reliable system can free a person from fear of being dropped or fear of injuring a caregiver and can provide the freedom to move from seat to seat as many times a day as they want or need to.   Even the most basic straight piece of track over a bed and the space beside it can be life changing for a person who could not move from bed or wheelchair without it.

That said, imagine the freedom if a person could move anywhere they want to within a room.  A traverse Track System accomplishes that.   I used to think that the traverse system was really only useful for group settings like a therapy gym where one set of tracks would allow people to transfer safely and quickly onto equipment anywhere in the room.   Then I had the opportunity to install two units within the past few years for individuals who understood the potential the system had for their homes.

One situation was a young adult living who had one installed in his bedroom suite.  His transfer areas were his bed, his wheelchair, his desk chair, and two locations within his bathroom.  He and his family knew this was the most effective way to help him move anywhere he wanted to within his suite with no physical effort for his parents.   The second was for a person who had been living with a spinal cord injury for over 20 years.  He’d had to stay in hospital and rehab living situation for a long time following repair of a skin problem and knew he didn’t want to have any potential for rubbing that area.  He wanted a system that wouldn’t cause any muscular strain for his wife.  When he learned about the traverse track system, he knew he’d found his answer.

The traverse track system consists of two fixed ceiling or wall mounted parallel rails and one traverse rail that moves back and forth of the parallel rails.  The manual version shown in our video can be moved almost effortlessly by a caregiver.   SureHands Lift and Care Systems as usual has many options to allow us to match a person’s abilities and environment.  There is an electric version that can be operated independently by a person sitting in the body support or sling.  We can also connect a traverse rail to another rail and a person can move outside of the room.   While a traverse track system may not be able to move a person anywhere in the physical environment, such as down their outside ramp, all over the yard, or up and down the stairs, it can come very close to moving a person anywhere inside they want to go within their home.

If you’d like to learn more about the possibility of transferring anywhere, give us a call or visit the SureHands Lift and Care Systems web site www.surehands.com.  Imagine the freedom!

Technology and Socialization

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A special thanks to Chris Tyler with At Home 2 Stay. You can call him at 402.510.5626.


We specialize in changing a home environment and prescribing technology or equipment that allows a person with a disability or an older person to continue living at home.  Our premise is that if a home environment “matches” the abilities of the person living there, they will be safer and better able to function independently.  


Even though our focus is on the physical environment, we never forget that people are social beings. For a successful home modification, you always need to ask yourself if the person’s social needs are being met as well.   After all, how well can a person truly live if they can eat, bathe, and dress independently but they have no one to talk to or care for? 


There are many studies that link social isolation to health issues.  Technology may be used by some individuals and families to increase socialization opportunities.   For technology to be most effective, it needs to be simple to use, reliable, and of interest to the person using it.  For example, one person might enjoy simply surfing the internet and emailing or texting with friends and another would feel more comfortable with life video interaction during routine social events such as meals.   Fortunately there is an increasing amount of technology and training services designed to help people isolated within their homes stay in touch with their community and families.  


For more information or referral to in-home technology services, give us a call.

Ceiling based lifts as an example of Matching People with Assistive Technology

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“The goal of assistive technology is to provide the most appropriate technology for a particular person, with minimal disruption to a user’s accustomed and preferred ways of doing things, ultimately resulting in an enhanced quality of life” 1  In order to do that, a person needs to identify not only what they are trying to accomplish, but also their abilities, the abilities of any care givers, features of the physical environment, and funding source requirements and then match these things to the physical and technical requirements of the products they select as well as  to the price and availability of the product.   Without a proper match, the best product in the world could very well be useless.

One of the greatest equipment misconceptions I run into relates to transfer equipment.  In our current medical reimbursement climate, most transfer equipment that is funded through medical funding sources meets only the most basic of transfer needs.  The ability to function independently for instance may not always be defined as medically necessary.  The prevalence of very basic equipment leads some medical professionals and lay people to assume that there is really one type of lift equipment.  Even those who have learned about alternatives such as ceiling based lift equipment may not realize that there is such a variety of motor, switch, and sling/body support options available.

I was asked just this week to step in and help an individual correct a problem arising from his prescribing source thinking that all ceiling based lifts were similar.  He’d been working on independence with a particular system in rehab.  Unfortunately his prescription simply indicated a ceiling lift.  He was fortunate enough to qualify for a funding source.  The funding source representative didn’t understand that one size didn’t fit all.  The end result was that he got a lift but it was provided by a company that didn’t evaluate him personally and put in a lift that required a caregiver to operate and for him to sit on a sling.  Since he hadn’t been educated that there was more than the system he’d trained on available, he didn’t realize he couldn’t use what was being installed until he say the device hanging there.  He couldn’t operate the motor by himself and he couldn’t use the sling provided as it impacted a pressure sore and he couldn’t put it on independently without sitting on it all day long.  This was a situation in which everyone involved intended something good, but it didn’t work out well, because no one matched the technology to his needs.

 It really wasn’t hard to help him figure out what would work.  We just had to list out what he wanted to do, list his abilities, and understand enough about ceiling lifts to know which products matched the items on the list.   Once of the reasons, I love being a SureHands Lift and Care Dealer is the ability to actually “prescribe” the right combination of motor and sling/body support.  Just to make sure, we tried a demonstration model so that the individual could understand and feel for himself what the equipment would do.

Selection of the right technology can enhance a person’s quality of life whether we are talking about something fairly complex like a lift system or something simple like a toilet riser.  Take the time to make a good match and you will like the result.

1 MJ Scherer: Outcomes of assistive technology use on quality of life, Disability Rehabilitation 18 (9) 1996

Heart Heroes

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People who have disabilities from medical conditions, accidents, or even the aging process face challenges everyday.  Home Access Solutions works to minimize the barriers within our homes.  We work with people we consider to be heroes because they are determined to life fully and take action to make things better for themselves and others.

Recently we met Sondra and Kitty, two mothers who saw a need and stepped up to recognize Heroes within their family and circle of friends and it has blossomed into a vibrant organization, Heart Heroes.

CHD stands for "Congenital Heart Defect" and is an anomaly of the heart that is present at birth.  CHD causes one or more portions of the heart to develop abnormally.  There is no know cause for CHD, however it is the #1 birth defect and affects 1 in every 85 babies.  Twice as many children die from CHD each year than from all forms of childhood cancers combined.  Some babies may be diagnosed before or at birth, some not until day, week, months, or even years later.  Undiagnosed CHDS cause many cases of Sudden Cardiac Death in young athletes.  There is no cure, only lifelong treatment.  Early diagnosis is the key to survival.  Please tell your doctor, family and friends about this information and ask about newborn screening programs.  You might save a life!

These children laugh, play and enjoy life just like any child; however, what makes them our heroes is that they have experienced life-saving heart operations - unlike most children.  One would never know these children have endured lengthy hospitalizations and miraculous medical interventions.

Undergoing these complex medical procedures is a daunting experience even for adults.  For children, being alone without their family to comfort them amidst a crowd of medical professionals is  scary.  Heart Hero Capes were created  with the hope that all children visiting the hospital or their cardiologist will feel invincible wearing their cape – have super-hero powers - and that their parents will be comforted knowing that the arms that always protect them are momentarily being substituted with the super powers of the cape.

After seeing their children face the challenges of heart operations and cardiology appointments the moms of these heart heroes decided to create the opportunity for all children with CHD to have a Heart Hero Cape.

Go to the Heart Hero's website to learn more about the organization and to support Heart Heroes with your donation, or to request a cape for your own Heart Hero. 

HETRA Hippotherapy

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Hippotherapy

Hippotherapy  literally refers to treatment or therapy aided by a horse.  Hippotherapy promotes the use of the movement of the horse as a treatment strategy in physical, occupational and speech-language therapy sessions for people living with disabilities. Hippotherapy has been shown to improve muscle tone, balance, posture, coordination, motor development as well as emotional well-being.

While Hippotherapy relies on the natural motion of the horse, the relationship of rider and horse, and the skills of the therapist to select and apply the activities in a goal driven therapeutic way, there is often a place for lifting  technology to help get a person with a disability onto the horse safely and with dignity.

HETRA
HETRA stands for Hearltland Equine Therapeutic Riding Academy. Their mission is to improve the quality of life both physically and emotionally of adults and children with disabilities through equine assisted activities. It was started in Omaha in 1989. They have grown in the past 20 years to 17 therapy horses, 12 NARHA certified instructors and over 90 students.


HETRA offers therapeutic riding, hippotherapy, therapeutic carriage driving, public riding lessons and Horses for Heroes which helps veterans of any age and type of disability.

Please visit their website at www.hetra.org or go here to get in contact with them for more information.

Therapeutic Horseback Riding
The patented SureHands Body Support is natural for transferring individuals from their wheelchairs directly onto the horse's back. Many riding programs around the world have found this to be the easiest and safest way to make this difficult transfer.

As the individual is lowered the natural separation of their legs makes it ideal for straddling the horse's back and lowering directly onto the saddle. And even when the thigh supports are removed, the body support cups maintain the lateral stability of the individual. This gives everyone the opportunity to wait until the perfect moment to release the body support and allow the individual to ride away.

SureHands track systems and other SureHands options allow individuals to be raised very high and effortlessly... making this the winning solution for hippotherapy programs.
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If you have questions about SureHands lifts for riding horses therapeutically or recreationally or for more mundane things like being able to get in and out of your bathtub, just give us a call.

Monitoring Technology

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A special thanks to Chris Tyler with At Home 2 Stay. You can call him at 402.510.5626.

People prefer to live at home where it's familiar, comfortable, and affordable.  At Home Access Solutions, we can help families modify the physical environment to make it as safe and easy to use as possible, but we recognize that may not be everything that is needed for some situations.

Any person can fall or get sick, but someone who is either older, isolated, or both is at greater risk for serious consequences.   For instance, take a look at these grim CDC statistics about the consequences of a senior falling and remaining on the ground without help.

• If a senior falls and remains on the floor more than four to five hours, he/she could spend up to 18 days in a hospital or rehab facility. 
• If a senior remains on the floor overnight after a fall, he/she could spend up to 30 days in a hospital or rehab facility.

(Source: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

 Having someone close by just in case they are needed is a solution, but not always practical for families who provide care for older loved ones.  Frankly, many seniors I know, prefer their privacy and routine and don’t want to include a person watching over them.

Terrific technology such as personal emergency response systems exist which a person can use to notify others in an emergency, but they must be willing and able to “push the button”.  Recently a long distance caregiver told me that she couldn’t persuade her mother to use an emergency response system because her mother didn’t want an ambulance pulling up outside her door.  We can, from our own perspective, argue that embarrassment in front of the neighbors would be the least of our worries in the case of a fall, but it was a significant obstacle this person gave to her daughter the caregiver.   Among the overwhelming numbers of people who have used personal emergency response systems successfully to call for help and to minimize the problems following a fall or sudden illness at home, we do hear about the cases where people haven’t been alert enough or physically capable of operating the emergency button.  In these cases additional monitoring might have been a good addition to the emergency response system.

There is also the problem of detecting gradual changes in abilities or behavior that can eventually lead up to serious issues, before they get out of hand.  Many long distance caregivers rely on phone conversations and occasional visits and aren’t able to see the small warning signs until a true emergency has arisen. There are small daily tasks like remembering medications at the right time, getting enough to eat when there aren’t other people around to enjoy preparing meals for, etc.  that a person living alone might start to miss.   Long distance caregivers wouldn’t see these changes until the situation has become noticeable or critical.  This is another situation where monitoring technology may be useful.

Monitoring systems have been around a long time.  I have several clients who tell me about their old-fashioned, informal method of monitoring is to make sure someone knows that they have gotten up for another day.  They open their blinds and watch for their neighbor to open their blinds.  If the blinds don’t go up, the designated family member is called.  Having a network is great, but now there is technology that is significantly more reliable and more sensitive to small changes that having your neighbor watch for you to open your blinds.  We’ve interviewed Chris Taylor from Home2Stay in this video and we encourage you to research all of the emerging long distance monitoring that will make it possible for people to stay at home where they are in familiar, economical, and SAFE surroundings.

Use technology to make living at home safer and easier

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A special thanks to Chris Tyler with At Home 2 Stay. You can call him at 402.510.5626.

Technology can make safe aging in place possible. "Aging in Place” is a broad term that defines living independently – that is, living where a person wants to live. Most of us chose the homes we’ve lived in for years, but that older home was not designed to accommodate the needs of most older people. The adult children, or caregivers, of people who are aging in place often worry if their parents are living as safely as possible.

Home Modifications such as handrails, walk- in or roll- in showers, and grab bars can make homes safer and easier to use. Modifications remove or minimize environmental barriers for people with balance, strength, sensory, or mobility limitations. Simple technology can also be used with structural home modifications to make everyday living safer and easier. For instance, imagine the lights turning on automatically when you get out of bed. That would make moving around the house at night safer for anyone, but would be especially helpful for older individuals. As we age, muscles that control pupil size and reaction to light, lose some strength. Seeing well in dim light becomes harder. In addition, the pupil is less able to adjust to varying light conditions. Gradually increasing light in dark pathways may significantly reduce the risk of falling.

Unless a person is interested in technology for technology’s sake, you need to introduce devices that meet a basic need or that do something that they want to do, if you want to successfully incorporate technology into a person’s routine. It is helpful if the device looks and feels familiar and easy according to Karen Stabiner in the article, “ Elder Tech: What’s Important”. http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/elder-tech-whats-important/

At Home Access Solutions, we help people and their families identify solutions that will enable people to age in place successfully. To augment our design, equipment and remodeling services we work with other specialty companies such as, At Home 2 Stay. We hope you enjoy the interview with Chris Tyler and will either give him or us a call if you want to learn more about harnessing technology for safer and more independent living.

Claw Foot Tub Conversion

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Here’s my joke for the day. What is the difference between climbing out of a hole in the ground and climbing out of a bathtub? Answer: None, except you get to wear clothes when you climb out of the hole.

Ok, I know that isn’t hilarious, but it is essentially true. Many people who sit in the floor of the tub have difficulty getting up again. There are many reasons, but the two primary reasons I’ve seen in my environmental modification practice is that they either don’t have sufficient upper body strength or they have hip or knee limitations or pain. There are many pieces of equipment and modifications to choose from. Solutions can range in cost from under a hundred dollars to thousands of dollars depending upon what you need, how you want the project to look, and your budget.

One type of tub that people often call me about is the clawfoot tub. While clawfoot tubs are making resurgence in popularity because of their beauty and depth, many of my clients would like nothing more than to get rid of them. The tall wall is hard for them to get in and out of and they’ve developed difficulty or a fear of sitting down in them and not being able to get out again without help. Many times there is no shower and they feel like they have no options to sitting on the floor of the tub and climbing over the tall tub wall in order to get clean.

This is conversion we did recently on a limited budget to increase safety and update the bathroom at the same time. This particular homeowner had never had a tub with a shower and was interested in having one. She was also experiencing increasing difficulty getting in and out of the tub and felt unsafe. We replaced the tub faucet with a kit that included a faucet and a shower head and good quality round curtain ring. We used three clear curtain liners to protect the window and walls as well as to continue to let as much light in as possible. The homeowner will be purchasing a single pretty curtain to match the new wall paint a Rebuilding Together volunteer group is doing for her soon. We used a Superpole with Superbar from Healthcraft to provide a stable, vertical grip when she is stepping in and out of her shower since she has the mobility and strength to swing her legs over the tub wall if she has something to hold onto while leaning forward. The horizontal bar of the system juts through two of the curtain liners to provide a horizontal safety support while she is standing and showering. She is looking forward to the convenience of a shower, but she would still like to soak occasionally so she will use the horizontal bar grab bar we put on the wall to support herself while rolling to get up on a knee and then stand.

There are some other ways to deal with a clawfoot tub other than replacing it. Each person has unique abilities and goals, so answers are never one-size-fits-all. Stay with us for future blogs and we can explore solutions together or give us a call and set an appointment for an in home consultation to help you climb out of your “hole-in –the-ground” or tub.

I don’t have any money for repairs. Am I doomed to travel dark stairwells?

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Depending upon the condition of your wiring and the type of lighting you want, adding an extra light or a second switch on a stairwell will usually be well under a few hundred dollars using the services of a qualified electrician. A basic, oak 1 ½” diameter handrail with heavy duty fasteners done properly will also be under a few hundred dollars in our area. You can spend more, but if you are looking for sturdy, functional, safety, it doesn’t cost much. It certainly costs less than a fall, fracture, or trip to the emergency room.

We do have citizens in our community who recognize that they have dangerous stairwells, but really can’t come up with the extra money to get the work done and don’t have the ability to do it themselves.

We are pleased to be able to collaborate with these groups even though we are a private design and construction company. We help them find cost effective solutions for the people in the community that they exist to serve. This makes their money spread further and they know what they are spending money on is effective. We often refer people to groups who can help with funding. The bottom line is that people who truly can’t afford simple home modifications or equipment can get what they need to life more safely and independently.

Funding for home modifications is not the same as funding for medical equipment like a cane or walker. While extremely necessary for quality living, home modifications are not defined as medically necessary by medical funding sources like Medicare or most medical insurances. Funding for modifications is scarce and is usually designated for people with low incomes. Depending upon your income, medical condition, and geographic location, there may be something.

We provide design, equipment, and construction services. We don’t provide funding ourselves. You are welcome to download our short funding quide. In Nebraska you may also want to investigate www.atp.ne.gov In Iowa look at www.iowacompass.org

I hear about so many people who quit before they start when it comes to modifications. Just this past week, we had a woman call and cancel an appointment for us to install grabbars because she “couldn’t afford it”. The strange thing was she didn’t have a price from us yet, so she didn’t know what amount it was that she was afraid she couldn’t afford. I urge you to put your safety and your independence first. What you need may not cost as much as you think. Find out what the equipment or modification you need will cost. Find out if there is a funding source that will help you. Whatever you do, if you need it. Find a way to get it.

Do we really need research to know we need to light a stairwell?

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This is simply a no brainer, isn’t it? Of course we need light in our stairwells to allow us to take advantage of the vision we have. Without good light, we might as well blindfold ourselves when we travel the stairs. Who would do that?

Unfortunately very smart and rational people who have coped with dark stairwells that were built before building codes required a light with switches at top and bottom may not realize how much easier and safer it would be to negotiate stairs if they can see what they are doing. If you know someone like that, show them this video and see if they can recognize themselves!

Good lighting in a stairwell doesn’t cause shadows over the stairwell. This is usually accomplished with lighting at top and bottom or light that is positioned to cast a light a person’s body doesn’t block when they are traveling the stairs.

Light bulbs don’t last forever, so fixtures that are easy to reach are important for stairwell safety too. That way people will replace burnt out bulbs and they will be able to do it without climbing on ladders to reach the light.

In the example today, we knew this homeowner needed to use the handrails we installed, so we expected her hands to be occupied. For additional safety we used a motion sensing light so that she wouldn’t ever have to remember to turn on the light or struggle to reach a switch while balancing with her hands on the handrails. We were careful to select a light that didn’t project into the stairwell in a way that would risk her bumping into it.

Current codes require lighting be controlled at top and bottom unless the light is operated automatically. A qualified electrician can help you determine how to add the switches at the top and bottom of your stairwell and add additional lighting.

Stairwells can be very dangerous, but most of us can’t get around in our homes without using them. In addition to non slip surfaces and good handrails, use lighting to increase your safety.

Caregivers – Save Yourselves! Protect your health to protect the ones you love.

Family caregivers don’t start off planning to be on call 24 hours a day, to fill their days multi-tasking, eating on the run, and focusing their lives around the needs of someone else. Everyone knows that is an un-healthy lifestyle-ripe for stress related illnesses. Family caregivers are usually motivated by love and are responding to the needs of someone they love. Events and responsibilities sometimes become larger than one person can manage on their own. Some caregivers find ways and help to provide the care their loved one needs without harming their own physical and mental health, others don’t. The ones that don’t are at risk of health issues and pre-mature death.

A study in 1999 showed “that being a caregiver who is experiencing mental or emotional strain is an independent risk factor for mortality among elderly spousal caregivers. Caregivers who report strain associated with caregiving are more likely to die than noncaregiving controls. Those with disabled spouses but providing no help and those helping a disabled spouse but reporting no strain did not have significantly higher mortality rates than noncaregivers.” The differences were related to the physical and mental health of the care provider. 1

Family caregivers of any age are less likely than noncaregivers to practice preventive healthcare and self-care behavior for a variety of reasons. Often they feel like there is a lack of time or financial resources. For whatever reason they tend to deprive themselves of sleep, good nutrition, exercise, rest when they are sick, and preventive medical care. They often feel isolated and alone with their responsibilities. They feel like they have no choices.

There is a choice however. Caregivers are not really all alone. There is help available in our community and support to make healthier decisions every day. Caregivers need to assume one more responsibility. They must assume responsibility for themselves and their own health.

It may be hard to take the first step asking for help or information once a person has convinced themselves that they are alone and doing things the only way they can be done, but the choice is take care of yourself or put yourself and the person you are caring for at risk. There is a reason we are cautioned to put our oxygen mask on first and then take care of the people we are responsible for every time we fly. Airlines know that there are some people who think of others first, even when faced with lack of air to breathe. The consequence is that they pass out and there is no one to take care of the people they are responsible for. Then the emergency becomes even worse! Family caregivers must take care of themselves to minimize risks for the people they are responsible for.

There are many great businesses and organizations all across the United States that provide services and information to help family caregivers provide care in a healthy way. It won’t take much time to check out these links which are for local businesses and agencies.

Aging Partners/Caregivers Support www.lincoln.ne.gov/aging
Caring Concepts www.caringconcepts.org
Home Access Solutions resource links www.HomeAccessSolutions.com
Nebraska Care Planning Council www.carenebraska.com
Southwest8Senior Services www.southwest8.org
The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging www.enoa.org
The Respite Resource Center www.respitenetwork.org
The league of Human Dignity www.leagueofhumandignity.com

There is also a great radio talk show called “The Art of Aging” which is on Thursdays 4:00pm on KCRO 660 AM Hosted by Dale Percival & Cathy Wyatt from Financial Visions, LLC. Tuning into a radio program is easy and you don’t have to leave home.

Finally, I strongly recommend that family caregivers find a way to attend a Family Caregiver Retreat, “ A time for You” April 27 & 28th at Mahoney State Park as a way to jumpstart their resolution to find ways to care for themselves in addition to others. People will gain emotional, physical, emotional, and mental respite in addition to meeting others who are leading similar lives and leaving with constructive ideas for future success as a caregiver. Honestly I don’t think most caregivers I’ve met can afford to miss this. Download the flyer for information on events, respite options and funding, lodging, and potential room and registration scholarships. Call Donna Washburn at 1 800-247-0938 for information.

Please share the news and share the video. Spread the word about the retreat and resources to help the family caregiver save themselves.

1 Shultz, Richard and Beach, Scott (1999). Caregiving as A Risk for Mortality: The Caregiver Health Effects Study. JAMA, December 15, 1999 - Vol. 282, No.23

What is the cost of NOT using a stair glide?

Stair glides do cost money, especially if you buy them from a reputable, experienced dealer who can provide product knowledge and service. I see my clients tempted everyday to save a little money and just keep on struggling up and down the stairs. I think this falls into the “penny wise, pound foolish” category of thinking.

Sometimes it is easier for a person to see the need when they’ve experienced a traumatic event and go from having no problems on the stairs to difficulty with them over a short period of time. They feel the impact that problems moving within their homes cause more keenly, and they are looking for solutions.

When the problem with negotiating steps comfortably has developed over a long period of time it is usually harder for a person to see the need for equipment like a stair glide. They may or may not have noticed that it simply takes more effort to go up and down the stairs. Perhaps they accept their arthritis pain as normal and aren’t aware of the stress that the stairs puts on their joints. Or they stumble one day and realize that they really haven’t felt comfortably balanced while maneuvering on stairs for quite a while. I will usually suspect a problem with the stairs when a person describes their daily routine in a way that makes it evident that they are arranging their lives around avoiding the stairs. I’ve met people living in older 2 story homes, who limit the amount of water they drink during the day because they don’t want to have to use the stairs to get upstairs to the bathroom. I know so many people who gradually become recluses simply because it takes too much effort or is too frightening to navigate steps to get outside.

Other people have told me quite proudly that they would never consider a stair glide. When I ask why they tell me that they believe they need the exercise or that they believe that they’ve been told by their physician or therapist that the stairs are good exercise for them. Now, I rarely come right out and disagree with another health professional, but I think there is a time and place for exercise and an area where the consequence of a mis-step is a tumble down the stairs is not it! If you have balance or strength problems, exercise somewhere else in your home where a fall is less likely to kill you.

Here are a few things we look for other than stairwell width, height, and length when we are recommending stair glides. These factors influence they type of options and features we recommend as well as the cost.

• Can the client get up and down out of chair safely? Do they need things like handles or grab bars for balance?

• Is there room at the top and bottom of the stairs for wheelchairs or walkers now and in the future? If the client uses mobility equipment, are they prepared to have duplicate equipment at the top and bottom of the system?

• Are there any structural changes that need to be made such as moving handrails, modifying doors around the track, or providing convenient electrical outlets?

• Will the track itself create a trip hazard at either the top or bottom of their stairs? Will the track present a hazard to others on the stairs?

• Is there clearance for their head and knees when they are riding? We have modified door casings at the top of a stairwell to provide a vital 1.5” of space for a tall person.

• What is the client’s weight? Larger weight capacity chairs cost more, but are worth it in the long run for safety, and a longer useful life if a person is close or over the manufacturer’s posted weight limit.

• Where are good locations for call/send switches.

• What safety improvements can we make around the chair glide such as removal of clutter, removal of loose throw rugs, and improvement of lighting?

Compared to your safety, your independence, and the quality of every day living, a stair glide for a straight stairwell is usually pretty cheap. Curved stairwells or stairwells with landings are more expensive as the track is often customized but is still usually less expensive than moving or a trip to the emergency room and rehab. We think the quality of your life is worth at least considering a safe way to have use of every level of your home.

Modular Ramps – Good all year round!

People can’t always choose the time of year that they need to have a ramp installed. Modular aluminum ramps may be an option to get someone in the door of their home as fast as possible even when there is snow on the ground and ice everywhere.

Modular ramps can be installed on pavers and in a matter of hours. When a client needs us to provide a ramp mid-winter, we can set it up and then come back in the spring and make any minor leveling adjustments needed as the snow and ice melt away.

Modular ramps are actually a great option for a lot of people all year round. They are fast to install, have a high weight capacity, and require less maintenance over the years than most wood ramps. They come with a variety of handrail and landing options. Take a look at a comparison chart for Aluminum vs Wood produced by EZAccess™.

Modular ramps are popular with our clients who rent and also with landlords in town. It is simple for us to move the ramps from house to house and the modular design allows us to add or subtract pieces to keep the ramps at a safe slope. There is minimal impact on the property for the renter to fix when they leave.

So when you need access to your home and you are thinking ramps, keep modular ramps in mind as an option.

The Home Access Magic Wand

Sorry Virginia, there is no magic access wand.

Sometimes we can tell that we are disappointing the person standing in front of us at a health fair or talking to us on the phone. We are simply too responsible to attempt to solve their home accessibility answer without more information and usually without going to their home. Sometimes they’ve given long explanations of what is going on and what isn’t working, and we have listened. But even when they can accurately describe their abilities and what their home looks like, they are only able to give us their perspective of those things.

While our client’s perspective is critical and plays a huge role in the recommendations we make, they deny themselves the benefit of our objectivity and experience over the years if they ask us to rely solely on their impressions.

Here are a few reasons why a responsible access consultant won’t just attempt to solve problems for people without a good individual and on-site review:

1. There are accessibility guidelines that some people think can be used like a cookbook for access such as the Americans with Disability Accessibility Act Guidelines, but these are not designed to meet the personal need of every individual and they aren’t required in private residences unless they’ve been incorporated into a building code.

2. Every person is different from others and should be treated individually. Even two people with the same medical condition, same age, same size, and same sex, will have different goals, preferences and abilities.

3. Houses are very different from each other.

In short, there really is no notebook or cookbook that says what is exactly right for every person and we know there is really no such thing as accessibility magic wands so we have to rely on good old evaluation, knowledge about a multitude of options, and the experience to match those options with the individual’s needs. We feel like the best way to solve an access issue is to listen to a person to understand their goals and observe them in the environment they want to change. So if you give us a call with an access question, we really don’t want to disappoint you. Expect a thorough residential access answer to include a visit to you in your residence.

If you want an objective, professional solution to your residential access problem, call us and set an appointment with one of our designers. We provide in-home assessments with no travel fee in the Greater Omaha, Nebraska area. All other areas in Nebraska and Iowa are possible with a travel fee. We will give you a firm estimate of your costs for consultation when you call to make an appointment.

Home Sweet Home

Think about this the next time you drive up to your own “Home Sweet Home”. Most people don’t have any problems getting into their own homes and know that they are going to be able to use any part of the house they want to, safely and easily. People who have physical disabilities don’t always get to assume these things, because the average house presents many barriers to independence and safety. It’s easy to sit back and assume that the issue is so big that one person can’t do anything about it, but you can. You can do it today.

People typically want to live on their own. You may not realize how many different efforts are going on in Nebraska to make independent living a reality for everyone. Home Access Solutions provides private residential access design and remodeling services. We work with architects, other remodelers, and builders to customize homes and sell equipment for people who have disabilities or who want to age in place. There are government and non-profit agencies in Nebraska such as The Assistive Technology Partnership, The Greater Omaha Chapter of the National Safety Council, and the League of Human Dignity that are involved in the effort to provide information and resources for homes that meet the needs of seniors and people with disabilities. Many support groups such as The Midlands Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, United Cerebral Palsy Association of Nebraska, and ALS in the Heartland to name just a few, include information about living at home in the resources they make available. Then there are countless individuals who see the need for more homes and resources and have taken the problem into their own hands such as Ben Leypoldt and his family who live with the problem of in-accessible housing every day.

The desire to live on one’s own is a pretty common feeling, but how that is accomplished can be extremely unique. Among people who have disabilities there is a great range in the way people move, grasp, balance, see, hear, and interact with the environment around them. Just like among people without disabilities, there is also a great range in what they want to be able to do in their home and how they want that home to look. Not everyone needs or wants the same thing in a house. So when Ben and his family decided from their own personal experiences that they wanted to do something to encourage more choices for independent living in their hometown, they decided to start first with asking questions about what other people with disabilities would like to have in a home. Ben didn’t assume that everyone would need or want the same things he wants and uses in his home.

Right now, Ben is collecting information in a short survey. If you have a disability that changes how you live in a home, please take the time to fill it out. If you know someone with a disability, please forward this blog or the link to them and ask them to take the survey at www.livingonyourhome.org.

We actually have a lot of information and resources available in Nebraska compared to other parts of the United States, but we don’t have enough yet. One way to improve housing for everyone is to talk about it and collect information to discover what’s needed. Filling out the survey or passing the information on is one way you can help. Do it today.

Make 2011 a Year for Change

At Home Access Solutions we work with the changes that occur due to disability and aging. It’s not uncommon for people to deny the need to change in response to disability or aging and it’s not uncommon for that act of denial to lead to disastrous loss of independence and quality of life. Watching people destroy themselves makes me unhappy. It is so sad, and so unnecessary.

I understand that you may be tempted to click right off this web page right now. No one, absolutely no one wants to hear someone tell them that they themselves should consider changing. But I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you are intelligent and brave enough to hang in there for a few minutes. Besides, I might be talking about someone else changing, not you.

When W. Edwards Deming said, "It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” he was talking about managing a business not life in general. However, I believe it is applicable to managing your life when you are faced with changes around you that are beyond your control.

Since thinking or talking about aging and disability makes some of you uncomfortable let’s talk about change in a regular every day, every person life. Let’s look at getting food to eat. We all do that. With the recent upheavals in our economy, I’m sure you know someone who has had a reduction in income. They still need to eat. So they have a choice. They can continue to buy food and groceries the same way that they did when they had more income, or they can adjust in response to the changed situation. They can choose to continue to spend money at the same rate or choose to change the way they spend on groceries and food- eat out less, eat at less expensive places, or choose more economical dishes to cook. You can see where this is going. If they don’t change in response to the changes around them – reduced income – DENY if you will the need to change, they will run out of money and not be able to feed themselves at all. If they acknowledge the need to change the way they obtain food and groceries, and spend less, they have a better chance of continuing to do what is important- Eat. Respond positively to the changes around you and you will win. Deny the need to change and you’ll lose.

I understand that it isn’t easy to acknowledge the need to change something about yourself, much less embrace it, when you don’t feel like you asked for the change and you didn’t really cause the situation to change around you. A person who has to change because of a disability or aging usually hasn’t asked to become disabled or older. I’ve listened to my clients ask why they have to change. Whether it feels fair or not, it’s their life and their situation, and success or failure lies in how they respond to the changes in their abilities and circumstance. Denying the need to change by figuratively or literally crossing your arms, drawing your line in the sand, standing firm, and resisting change all feel so pro-active. These actions make you feel like you are taking charge and preventing loss. It’s a false feeling. It’s the first step on the road to disastrous loss of independence, of choice, and of quality of life.

Just like in my story about reduced income and eating. The way to win when change is necessary is to change how you respond so that you can continue to do what is really important to you. Here are some concrete examples that a lot of people facing changes due to disability or aging face: Which is more important, the way you get in and out of bed or that you can get in and out of bed? Which is more important, the equipment you use to move through your house safely or that you can move around in your house at all? It’s really the end result that matters. Respond actively to the changes around you and you will win. Deny the need to change and you’ll lose.

Thanks for listening to me talk about the big scary C word- Change. I hope that my words will give you the tools you need to delight in the world around you and stay excited about the adventure of living. To do this, embrace change.

To reward you for hanging in there, I’ve collected some quotes about change and added one of my own. Email me with your favorite from my list or another great one you find somewhere else. I will select one person from all the responses I receive before January 15th to win a $25.00 Amazon.com gift certificate.


"We would rather be ruined than changed;
We would rather die in our dread
Than climb the cross of the moment
And let our illusions die."
--W.H. Auden

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain." --Maya Angelou

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Winston Churchill

"When you are through changing, you are through." --Bruce Barton

"Change is hard because people overestimate the value of what they have -- and underestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up." --James Belasco and Ralph Stayer, Flight of the Buffalo (1994)

"If you come to a fork in the road, take it. --Yogi Berra

"The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.” --Nathaniel Branden

"He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery." --Harold Wilson

"Nothing is easy to the unwilling." --Thomas Fuller

“If you don't think every day is a good day, just try missing one.” Cavett Robert

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future." --John F. Kennedy

“The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” Scott Hamilton

“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.” --Mike Murdock

“You can’t go out and conquer the world if you can’t get out of the bathroom.” BevVan Phillips

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” --Reinhold Niebuhr

"God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it's me." --Unknown

"People don't resist change. They resist being changed!" --Peter Senge

“The problem is not the problem; the problem is your attitude about the problem."
--Unknown

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." --Unknown, commonly misattributed to Charles Darwin

“The time to begin most things is ten years ago.” Mignon McLaughlin

“Do not resent growing old. Many are denied the privilege.” Author Unknown

"It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory." W. Edwards Deming

Email me with your favorite from my list or another great one you find somewhere else. I will select one person from all the responses I receive before January 15th to win a $25.00 Amazon.com gift certificate.