Useful Disability Aids That Make Life Easier at Home

One of the hardest parts of living with illness or pain is often accepting that you need some extra help. It can feel like admitting defeat – but it’s not admitting defeat at all. In reality, it’s far from that – it’s actually being sensible and doing what’s right for you. Extra help might need to come from another person, but there are so many useful disability aids which can also be used to help. They can make life easier and safer and can allow you to maintain some independence.

I own several disability aids and, to be honest, I’d be lost without them.

Disability Aids to Help You in Your Home

In previous posts, I’ve written about:

mobility aids,
gadgets which could help you in the kitchen
and
disability aids that could help you in the bathroom.

Today I will try to cover disability aids that can help you elsewhere in your home.

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In the Bedroom

Before talking about disability aids, I want to mention the height of your bed. A lot of beds are quite low and, especially if you have back problems, the height can make getting in and out of it difficult. But there’s an easy solution – you could use a set of furniture risers under the feet of the bed. You can get them in various heights to suit your needs. You might want to consider this for other furniture too.

If you do struggle to get into and out of your bed, a small bed rail could be beneficial. These are simple pieces of equipment but make life so much easier. You slide the bottom part under your mattress then use the rail at the side of your bed to give you some support when getting in and out of bed.

Adjustable beds are fantastic but very expensive. A cheaper alternative is an adjustable wedge cushion so you can sit comfortably in bed. You can also place another wedge or a pillow under your knees so that your knees are bent to take pressure off your back.

Over Bed Tables and Desks

Nobody likes spending lots of time in bed but when you’re living with pain or a chronic illness, it’s often a necessity. Tables that fit over the bed are great because they let you keep everything you need close at hand. They are ideal for meal times and working on a laptop or a favourite hobby.

Disability Aids to Help You Dress

Some people celebrate when they complete a marathon.
But I celebrate when I manage to put on a pair of socks myself.

Hubby often helps me but if he’s not around, I really don’t fancy having cold feet all day. Thankfully, I have disability aids to help.

A sock aid and an extra-long shoe horn are almost vital if you live with back pain because it can be difficult, if not impossible, to bend down. Some of the shoe horns have a hook on the end so it can help you with pulling on other clothing. There is also a simple but clever disability aid which hooks onto underwear or trousers to help pull them on.

I’ve also spotted a handy little tool to assist you with pulling up zips or doing up buttons. Those are ideal if you have any problems with your hands and find things like that fiddly. And if tying shoelaces is a problem, there are laces that turn lace-up shoes into slip-ons.

General Household Disability Aids

If you have difficulty standing from a seated position, there are disability aids to give some added support.

If there is a step in your house which you find a little bit too deep, a half step might be useful.

Walker Trolleys

A walker trolley is useful if you need to move from room to room. It helps you to walk and saves you from having to carry anything so could save several trips back and forth between different rooms. The trolley would be perfect for bringing your meals from the kitchen into the living room or bedroom. Or you could put everything you need throughout the day on it like medication, books, magazines and your phone along with a daily supply of chocolate. I think the walker trolleys are so useful because they save a lot of getting up and down from chairs and walking backwards and forwards having to carry everything you need.

I also think walker trolleys are useful for hobbies. Despite our pain or illness, it’s important to try to keep our minds occupied but sometimes it can feel like such a chore if you have to rake in cupboards and pull boxes out. Instead, perhaps you could keep everything you need close to hand on a walker trolley. It also has the added advantage that if you have to stop for a rest or decide you want to continue from the comfort of your bed, you can easily move the trolley. You might find it more convenient than having to carry trays or boxes of hobby items.

If you use a walking stick and do need to carry a tray, I have discovered the Homecraft Freehand Tray. However, it doesn’t come with an anti-slip mat, so If you use this, it would be best to use it with a mat so you avoid spills.

Simple Solutions For Everyday Tasks

It’s possibly difficult for most people to understand, but when you live with pain, simple, everyday tasks can be difficult.

The Plug Tug is a clever, yet simple, idea that helps you to pull out plugs from sockets easily. For me, some plugs seem to be almost impossible to pull out because of hand pain and back pain. Using the Plug Tug, it just takes a quick pull and it’s out.

Another gadget I was given years ago by an occupational therapist is the key holder. If you get painful hands and struggle to turn small, fiddly keys in locks, the key turner will be your friend.

And, finally, my very best friend (apart from my hubby and dog) – an extra long grab stick. When they were first made, they were called Helping Hands. And that’s exactly what they are because if you want something from a wall cupboard that’s too high, the grabber will reach it. If something is on the floor and you can’t bend down to pick it up because of your pain or disability, the grabber will reach it.

Mine is used almost every day and not just by me. If anything gets dropped on the floor, my grab stick comes out. And it’s often used to retrieve my dog’s toys when they roll under furniture!

Other Useful Items

It’s always good to be able to pull a small table close to you while you’re eating or if you’re working on a hobby. These folding tables are really handy for this. The bottom slides under a sofa or chair so the table can pull in as close as you need it to be.

If I’m not using a table, I have found a lap tray with a bean bag cushion to be useful. I love lap trays (especially if they have nice pictures on them).

Another useful item is a couch caddy with a tray on top. It hangs over the arm of the couch or chair so you can rest your cuppa on the tray and store things like remote controls, glasses or your phone in the pouches.

These are only a few of the disability aids which could help you around the house. If you have a problem doing something, no doubt, there is a gadget which will help. It also might be worth contacting your local occupational therapist as they can often provide some items.