Home Gadgets, Lap Desk, Furniture Risers

What is a Home Gadget?

Home gadgets are medical supplies that assist or provide individuals the opportunity to maintain a more independent lifestyle by allowing them continue to accomplish their daily living tasks around the home, or in a healthcare facility. The inability to carry out common self-care activities that most people learn in childhood and tend to take for granted, such as cooking, moving in and out of bed or a chair, using a pencil or pen, turning on a lamp, grabbing the lever to put their feet up while in a chair, crocheting and other hobbies, or using a telephone, are most affected by disabilities, aging or chronic illness. Healthcare professionals call these activities ADL and IADL.

What Does ADL and IADL Mean?

ADL is an acronym for “activities of daily living” which include household or personal daily tasks such as bathing, dressing, eating, using the toilet, walking, or getting in and out of bed.

IADL is an acronym for “instrumental activities of daily living” which refers to activities for continuing an independent lifestyle and maintaining a household. These would include such things as cleaning, laundry, cooking, sewing and other similar tasks.

Who Can Benefit From ADL or IADL Products?

Aging is the most common cause for the need of medical products to assist with the activities of daily living, but other reasons such as physical or mental disabilities can also require assistance in maintaining independent living. For example, a person with pulmonary lung disease or congestive heart failure may lack the physical strength or endurance to manage the typical household chores like cooking, laundering, vacuuming or cleaning the house. A person with arthritis may not be able to perform the precise and small movements of the fingers, hands or arms needed for simple daily tasks such as opening a pill bottle and handling the small pills, getting a glass of water, or even picking up a pencil or pen. Failing eyesight can make self-care more difficult such as reading instructions or medicine warnings, reading a book, or watching the television.

Mental acuity may also cause daily living challenges from diseases that affect memory such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, a stroke, and other illnesses. In these types of cases, the difficulty in taking care of one’s self may be due to forgetting to do a task, or how to complete it correctly rather than the physicality of doing the task. If memory is a factor in completing daily living skills, the assistance required usually involves medical products that provide reminders or alerting assistance, such as a talking clock or talking pill box.

Aging and Home Gadgets

Everybody grows older, and while we all share the common hope to advance in age with grace and good health, there are some issues that we may expect to occur at some point in our lives.
Not everybody will live to an old age with total health, but instead will experience typical and normal aging processes. Most often aging will likely cause a person to have gray hair and wrinkles, but other changes could also affect the teeth, heart, strength, dexterity, eyesight, and even sexuality. During the lifespan of an individual, there are certainly many things one can do to help slow or ease the physical and mental processes of aging. Here are a few examples of some aging issues to expect, and the home gadgets that may help:

Bones, Joints and Muscles - With advanced age, the bones tend to shrink in both size and density, weakening them and making them more susceptible to fracture. An elderly person’s muscles will generally lose flexibility and strength which can lead to less body coordination and more challenges with balancing.

Cardiovascular System – With aging, the heart becomes slightly slower and might become larger, arteries and blood vessels will become less pliable, often causing the heart to work harder to pump blood through them, which could lead to high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems.

Eyes – As most people become older, they might have difficulty focusing on objects that are close, such as words in books or medicine bottles. They also may become more light-sensitive to glare, which leads to challenges in adapting to different levels of light or dim light. Other aging vision issues may include the clouding of the eye lens (cataracts).

An IADL product that can assist with weakened eyesight is the Touch LED Lights, which can provide additional illumination with a simple touch to a darkened area by sticking it to any flat surface around the home. Another helpful solution is the Clip-On Head Lamp, that can supply extra light when needed during daily activities around the home, at work, or in just about any situation that will call for some extra illumination. Just clip the lamp onto a hat or shirt, or use the adjustable head strap to have some extra hands-free light.

Arthritis – While arthritis is not exclusively an aging disease, it does affect many seniors as well as people all across the age spectrum. Stiffness, swelling, pain and decreased range of motion are some of the symptoms of arthritis. Arthritis can adversely affect the daily activities of many people doing simple things such as turning on a lamp, using a pencil, or comfortably using silverware when eating.

Some medical devices can assist individuals who suffer with arthritis, or who experience a weakened grip, in their daily living activities. One such item is cylindrical foam tubing, which can fit onto eating or writing utensils, offering a larger and softer surface, making it easier for people to grasp items when needed. Another option is the Universal Turning Handle, that provides a large gripping area and is designed to make opening or locking doors, and turning stove knobs or water taps easier for those with weakened hand strength.

Rehabmart is proud to carry a wide selection of helpful home gadgets by esteemed vendors such as LSS, North Coast, Mobility Transfer, Maddak, Sammons Preston, Stander, Inc., Posey, Triple Crown Products, Fabrication Enterprises, MaxiAids, Convaquip, Enabling Devices, and others.

Hulet Smith, OT
Rehabmart Co-Founder & CEO

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