Sliding shelf makes storing and sorting canned foods easier

My husband just installed a handy device for my brother - a sliding shelf inside a kitchen cabinet.    My brother is not doing too well, is over weight and suffers from emphysema.   He has a very deep kitchen cupboard where he keeps all kinds of canned goods and miscellaneous stuff.  Visiting last week I noticed that it was chock full of canned goods so I went through it.   I found multiple cans of the same few items - canned spinach, beans, soups - with expiration dates as far back as 2007.  We sorted the food into really expired, recently expired, about to expire and okay.   The first two categories went to the dump and the "about to expire and okay" went back in the cupboard.   Then I tackled the CAUSE of the build up.... My brother is too fat and too weak to dig into the back of the cupboard. Rather than find what's there, he just buys more.

To make his search easier my husband installed a shallow drawer on slides. The drawer sits on the shelf and has a drawer pull so he can it out to see what's there.   This way he doesn't have to bend down low or reach into the back to find canned goods.  We were worried about the weight of the drawer and slider mechanism but they weighed far less than the 40 or so 15-20 ounce cans of food that we tossed away.   I also reorganized the cupboard so that little-used items are on the bottom shelf - trays, a blender, baking pans, electric fry pan, etc....   My brother will never use these things again so they went to the bottom and the food and few items he'll use went on the higher shelf and sliding drawers where it's easier to reach. 

A simple pole helps Mom be more independent.

NOTE:  This was originally posted with title that's a bit cheeky (it referred to "pole dan cin') but I got all kinds of nasty automated comments advertising porn sites so I changed the title and reposted.   It really erks me that I'm trying to do something beneficial and those rotten bastards mess it up.

Mom's ALF installed a great new device for her.  It means that she can be more independent and I have something to tease her about.   They put in a "pole"  next to her chair.   The center of it has a rubberized "sleeve" that gives her something to grip as she rises from her chair.  She still has good arm strength so can pull herself up to her feet, then she takes a small step or two and, still hanging on, pivots into her wheelchair.  It means she's able to get herself into and out of her wheel chair without help.  She feels better since she doesn't have to call for help as often and I worry less about her falling. 

The pole itself works like a giant tension rod between the floor and ceiling.  There is a flared sort of stand on the floor and a larger piece at the top where the pole meets the ceiling.

Here's a photo of the "stand" where the pole meets the floor.  It's relatively flat and not wide so Mom won't trip over it: (The news paper looks pretty messy but it's mom's favorite past time )

Here's the top of the pole, where it meets the ceiling:

I tried to find some brand name on the pole but could not.   There is a label about a distributors name but it's in the United Kingdom.   If anyone is interested in finding one of these for their home, I'd suggest asking a physical therapist or a pharmacy that also sells wheelchairs shower chairs, handholds for the bathroom and other "safety" products.   I'll try to find out more from the ALF and will share it here as I can.

What does mom need in assisted living?

Watching Mom over the past year, I tried to make note of things that make her happy or seem frustrating. Too often the list is heavy on the latter, but Mom keeps her sense of humor about it. Often she says, " Old age isn't for sissies.." or "It's tough to be gumhla". "Gumhla" is probably not spelled correctly but it's the best I can do. Mom tells me it's Norwegian or Swedish for "old" or "old lady", her grand parents and great aunts used the same term as they creaked about....

By building my list I hoped to capture things that would become helpful or hurtful in an assisted living facility. From these observations I created a list of things to look for in her next home:

• Are hallways long or short? How long must she walk to get around to things she'll enjoy?
• Hallways - narrow or wide? Can she, another resident and an aid pass each other easily with room to spare?
• How many elevators exist in the facility and are the numbers for floors easy to reach?
• Cabinets in the facility - low or high?
• Are individual appliances permitted in apartments or rooms? Coffee makers, refridgerators, microwaves, TVs, Stereos?
• How often do they come around for laundry? How do they keep Mom's things together or ensure they are returned to her?
• Can she go to breakfast in her pajamas? Is there a meal time dress code?
• Can she get her hair done on site?
• Is there a bathtub so she can get help for a nice soak now and then?
• What sort of outings does the facility have? Are there extra charges for these?
  
• How often do entertainers come in to the facility?
• Can I spend the night with Mom once she's moved?
• Can she control the heat in her room by herself?

More safety tips for elderly parents at home

Ah - a few minutes to myself in the afternoon sunshine... So I'll take the time to write a few more things that we've done to make Mom's home safer:

Turn down the water heater: Mom's skin is quite thin and so seems more sensitive to hot, cold, pressure and even rough surfaces. To prevent burns we turned down the hot water heater to 100 degrees. It seems cool to me but she's quite comfortable in the shower; the tub is not an option any longer since she can't get out of it.

Drawers and drawer pulls: We replaced the drawer pulls on Mom's cabinets and bedroom furniture so it's easier for her to open the drawers with swollen bent fingers.

Use easy glide drawers, automatic closing drawers or drawer stops: Innovations in cabinetry make for safer kitchens. See your local home improvement store for these gadgets that make for easier opening and closing.

Sort through drawers and remove heavy items and clutter: Remove heavy clutter and, if possible, move the most used things to the front of drawers. This prevents a situation where a heavy drawer is pulled out to far and falls onto the floor or worse yet, an arthritic foot.

Use rubber shower pads in the shower and out: We got a couple of rubber shower mats - the kind with the little suction cups on the back - and installed one inside the shower stall and on the floor where Mom walks most. This helps her get traction getting into and out of the shower. The mat we found - at KMart - has a sort of beveled edge so that it gradually rises from the floor, suction cups ensure it won't slip.

Use rubber shower pad between a bed and commode or potty chair: The same rubber shower mat mentioned prevents falls when Mom gets up during the night. Placed on the slick hardwood floor right where she steps out of bed to turn and use a commode.

Replace buttons with snaps or velcro: Mom can no longer slip buttons into button holes, arthritis has robbed her fine motor skills. I stitched all the button holes closed, applied large snaps to the garments then stitched the buttons OVER the top of the old button hole so it appears as thought she's wearing her usual button front blouses. Your local one-stop fabric & sewing shop should have tools that help apply snaps so you can save time stitching things together.

Making a safe home for mom

As my mom gets more frail due to osteoporosis and arthritis I've tried to make her home safer to reduce the chance of falls, bumps, bruises and minor mishaps. Her situation is complicated because she uses a walker due to a bum knee, is blind in one eye and has become gradually weaker. As she's aged we make adjustments to enable her to continue to do things for herself; often these are not attractive alterations but it's more important to make her home safe. We hope to help maintain her independence, dignity, self-worth and to help her feel that an aging body is not robbing her of self-control.

These ideas below are in NO WAY meant to be professional full-proof measures but are just a few things we did at my mothers home as adjustments to help her. To avoid getting sued, I suppose I MUST say: Try these things at your own risk. Consider your own knowledge on use of tools and hardware before trying to do it yourself. Don't attempt something you are not familiar with; it's better to pay a professional to do it right the first time rather than have incur more expense and disruption later.

Here is a list of things that my family and I have done around Mom's home:

Remove area rugs. This prevents tripping over folds and eliminates one more thing to clean. Even if the rug remains flat, it can be a trip hazard. Old folks often can't lift their legs high when they walk, they tend to shuffle. That small 1/2" rise is enough to catch a toe or heel and cause a fall.

Be sure cabinet doors close: Open cabinet doors are right at eye or knee level, if they hang open it's one more thing to bump into. Sharp or pointed edges can crack or break a bone if someone falls against it. We installed magnetized gizmo's to hold the doors closed. As mom got older the magnets were too strong and she didn't have strength to open the door so I applied tape to the magnets to weaken their hold; it was enough to keep the door closed yet Mom could still pull it open.

Stabilize appliances: Mom once lost her balance as she pulled the fridge door open; the whole thing began to tip over. Luckily my nephew was there and big enough to catch her with one arm and push the fridge back with the other (he's a 6'5" hunk with strong arms and back). We solved this problem by nailing a 2X4 board across the front of the fridge; my husband drove very long screws through the board and into the toe kick of the cabinets. We painted it to match the cabinetry so it's not ugly. Since many refridgerators are deeper than cabinets this might not work in all situations. Other options we considered were a metal bracket that attached to the side or top of the fridge and then to a stud in the wall or even a strap around the top of the fridge and attached to the wall. The 2X4 was the "least ugly" of these solutions and most acceptable to Mom.

Check other appliances for stability: Wiggle other appliances to judge their stability. Consider the stove or dryer - anything where your elder could hang one, lean or fall on the open door. Front loading washers are not as big a worry since their weight is mainly on the bottom of the appliance which makes it more stable.

Get appliances on the living level: Mom's washer / dryer was in her basement and the stairs were a huge worry for us especially if she tried to carry anything. We converted a linen closet to a laundry closet and moved these up stairs.

Secure other furniture to walls with brackets: cook cases, china cupboards, curio cabinets - anything that might be top heavy and fall over when used as a hand hold. All it takes is a small "L" bracket and a couple of screws. Or, move heavy objects from upper shelves to the bottom shelves.

Get a taller toilet: Often our elders have a hard time getting up from low seats. Given that, the bathroom poses a huge problem. They are alone, exposed and it's often in tight quarters. A taller toilet enables them to more easily raise up from a seated position, installation of a grab bar to pull with their arms can help even further. Other options like a "riser" - a plastic toilet shaped device that fits over the toilet - are possible but these are hard to clean which creates another set of issues. Don't get a toilet that's too tall or they can't get on it in the first place.

Bathroom hand holds: Install grab bars near the toilet, shower or tub. If you notice that they hold on to a towel rod to walk across the bathroom, ensure that it is securely fastened to a stud in the wall; don't trust the little 1/2" screws that come with the towel bars. After we noticed that the towel bar was loose, we replaced it with a real grab bar; it does double duty for towels and to steady Mom.

That's it for now - I have many other tricks and I'll share those as time permits.