Recommendations for useful gadgets?

[redblonde]

My mum is 87 and lives on her own. She is v independent, volunteers with the Red Cross and used to bell ring. But she is getting more and more frail. She struggles with things like getting socks on or fastening her bra, bending down to the fridge. Does anyone have any recommendations for any useful gadgets that could make life easier for her? Not just with those things but anything you've come across. I thought Age UK might have some suggestions but they just have alarms really! Thanks

Off the top of my head -

Bed loop
frame around the loo
Shower seat
Perching stool
Push along trolley for carrying plates/cups etc
Fall alarm or lifeline

if she’s struggling cognitively then maybe look at -

Pivotell tablet dispensers
Amazon Echo Show

Contact your local council they can do an assessment.

You can get a sock putter onner, for want of a better word, lots of gadgets and gizmos.

There will be someone at the council, probably an OT who can do the assessment.

My council has a sort of shop in the city centre where you can go to be assessed and take the most suitable things home, try things out etc.

I found the perching stool useless because it was too high for me.

Look at grannygetsagrip.com

Ask the GP for an OT assessment, they will recommend things and can loan equipment

A grabber like the council use for litter picking was really useful for my mum .
Get one with ( or attach ) a wrist strap so it's easy to carry from room to room when she has other things in her hands .

I know you've said not just those things specifically but in relation to struggling with her bra would she consider switching to bras that don't require fastening such as Molke bras? I can step into mine so she wouldn't have to wrangle it over her head.

My DF also got my DGPs Doro phones - he lives about an hour away from them and they have quite a lot of handy features. It allows you to link people to their account so you can do everything from provide tech assistance from a distance to getting alerted automatically if they press a big button on the back (eg if they fall and need assistance). You can also link it so if they press the button and you as the contact don't reply to an alert it will automatically contact the emergency services.

My DGM is fiercely independent, so was horrified and made him turn off the extra functions but I think its a good idea in principle 😅

I found Spring Chicken and Granny Gets a Grip great for kit. MIL hated her Doro and I’ve just replaced her iPhone 6 for a 12. FIL has a fall alarm that detects falls rather than needing to be pressed as he has dementia. It’s a bit oversensitive but better that than the alternative.

The most useful thing she has at the moment is a bright pink notebook with “MIL’s Important Stuff” printed on the front (Etsy) which I gave her for Xmas as she was writing down all her passwords on little slips of paper in a random selection of flowery notebooks. I’ve invested about 6 hours finding and resetting all her passwords (I am the Golden DIL).

Although having her and FIL’s POA is probably the single best thing really.

Thank you all so much. I love grannygetsagrip (and more importantly I think she will too!) and will get on to her local council about at OT assessment.

cosyfeet for comfortable velcro fastening shoes. Get a bed handle to help with getting in and out of bed