I’m baack!!!

Hello everyone!  I apologize for the lack of updates on this blog.  I’m here to say I’m back and actively working on the most interesting gadgets I can find to make things easier for our daily living.

One population of people that I work with are people who have had strokes.  This is all too common and recovering from a stroke is difficult.  It is my role as an occupational therapist to assist people to do just that:  recover their lives.

The people I work with work long and hard to get the connection from their brain to their muscles to get their arm and hand working again.  This can happen rapidly or slowly.  It all depends on the location and severity of the stroke.

Some people need to compensate by using only one hand, their unaffected hand, to do their daily living tasks.  Some activities of daily living (dressing, bathing, grooming, and toileting, for example) are clearly two handed activities.  People must re-learn these tasks and sometimes gadgets make it easier.

In honor of the courageous people recovering from strokes, here are a few of my favorite one-handed gadgets that can truly help these activities to be done easier: the one-handed can opener, a hands free soap dispenser and Dycem.

One-Handed Can Opener from TheKitchenStore.com

This is a great gadget that reallly works and it costs $14.99 plus shipping.

The Touch Free Counterop Soap Dispenser from 1-800Wheelchair.com

This is more awesome than it looks!

It runs on batteries and uses Infrared technology that can be used for soap, lotions or hand sanitizer.

It makes life easier for someone who only has one functional hand. No installation required.

The cost:  $45.00 plus shipping from 1-800wheelchair.com

Non-Slip Pads for eating/cooking/gadget placement: Ideal for one-handed activities

Found on www.sammonspreston.com, these are called “Dycem”.  They are pads of varying sizes that can be used to stabilize plates, cups, mixing bowls and many other things.

These vary in price from $13.49 to $42.95.  They are washable, reusable and last a long time.

These are ideal for people with only one hand that is functional.  Oh yes!  They are latex-free!

Happy July Everyone!

Happy July everyone.  This is too late to wish everyone in America a Happy Independence Day but hopefully yours was fun.  Here are some gadgets that make living easier.   These are all low tech and relatively inexpensive.

Here’s one for a follower of mine who took the time to suggest his own patented idea.  I think it is a great one….cuz I hate bugs.

The gadget to save your picnic from disaster!

These are called Bug Plug Bee Guards and are available in red, white and blue, but also green and yellow.  What they do is slip onto the tab of a can and cover your soda can if you are having a picnic and don’t want it disrupted by those stinging creatures.  They are not very costly either:  You can get 10 for $5 without a logo at www.bugplugbeeguard.com.  What a great idea these are!  Thanks to Douglas for sending this idea in!

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Next is a great gadget but alas you cannot buy it!  You have to make this one yourself so the good news it is free.  I found it on the web on Google Video.  Watch this and tell me if this doesn’t make life living easier?  It doesn’t look hard at all…reduces the effort of a daily or weekly chore.  Tell me what you think!

Now, the final gadget is a handy one that is good for both the able-bodied and the people that may have some physical issues with their endurance, weak grasp, or arm strength difficulties.  Take a look at the Hands Free Bag Holder:

The cost of this is $21.50 plus shipping.

Okay!  Please leave your comments…suggestions…and any ideas of the type of gadgets you’d like to see here. 

Low Tech and High Tech Gadgets

Technology has made our lives easier and that is clearly evident in two gadgets that I would like to bring your attention to today!  

High tech means the most advanced device on the market.  You’ll ask yourself, perhaps, is all of this needed?  Low tech means the opposite.  It is no longer cutting edge.  You can see the difference in these two devices.

 

High and Low Tech Approaches to a Pill Box.  A pill box??!!  READ ON!!!

 

 

One of my favorite podcasts is The Daily Giz Wiz on the TWiT Network (http://twit.tv/DGW).  In fact, I was reading the website that Dick DeBartolo writes and was taken by this product he reviewed.  If you’d like to hear the podcast yourself, here’s the link: www.twit.tv/dgw481

Vitality Glow Caps are not out yet, but they should be out soon.  What makes this pill bottle so high tech?  Well, it calls your phone to remind you to take your pills, or the reminder can be audio or visual (a melody or flashing lights).  How’s that for answering one of life’s challenges:  remembering to take your pills!  It comes with a modem and your family or caregiver, even your doctor can be informed that your pills are being taken correctly.

How much does this cost?  $99 for three caps, plus of course the $25/month fee for the service.

If you are interested in this gadget, the website to learn more about it is:  www.meridianhealth.com/technology     

 

 

A little too pricey?  Well, let’s look at a lower tech item that does something similar for less cost.  

 

It is called a Talking Alarm Clock and Medication Reminder by Med Center.   It is available on Amazon.com for approximately $35 including shipping.

What I really like about this is the sound of the alarm comes in “loud” and “extra loud”.  I think this could be really helpful for seniors or those of us juggling large quantities of medications.

Gadgets

Some of my favorite gadgets are those that make everyday life easier.  The first gadget is a reacher.  Some of my patients call these things a grabber.  It is as if these things extend your reach.  For example, trying to reach an item that is overhead in a cabinet or something under the bed are both instances when getting a reacher to help can really make a difference.  In addition, the reacher can help people get dressed by extending reach to the floor to pull up pants or shorts. 

 I’ve been told that a reacher is a great gadget when people live alone.  It can pick up small items like pills that may have fallen to the floor or an important piece of paper that may be out of reach.  Yes, this gadget is helpful for living independently and for able bodied people as well.

Another gadget that is on the top of my list is also used for both physically challenged and able bodied people.  This device is called a pencil grip.  All ages and stages of life can benefit from these devices.  The device itself can be a simple sleeve for a pen/pencil or its shape can provide support for the fingers to rest comfortably on the writing utensil.

 Below are pictures of both devices.  First, here’s one type of reacher (there are many types).  

Here are a variety of pencil grips.

 

There are all kinds of pencil grips and the recommended one is the 

one that fits your fingers the best.

Please leave comments about these gadgets and let me know what you think!

 

Occupational Therapy and Gadgets

As I said in my first post, I am an occupational therapist (OT).  For those of you unfamiliar with my field, let me explain.  The word “occupational” always throw people off.  They assume we get jobs for people!  We don’t!  “Occupation” is what people do.  For example, it could be getting dressed, a hobby, cooking, cleaning, playing, or working.  Occupational therapists, or OTs, work with people to be as independent as possible with these tasks.  Specifically, what we do varies from setting to setting and the best way to describe what it is, is to follow my career over the years.

I worked in an acute inpatient rehabilitation setting in Michigan.  There I provided my patients’ occupational therapy due to physical illness or disease.  Often the patients were recovering from surgery and were not moving around very well.  I addressed their current daily living needs, provided “gadgets” such as a sock aide, reacher or elastic shoelaces to people who had bending restrictions.   I also addressed upper body weakness, fine motor coordination and educated patients are fall prevention, energy conservation and joint protection.

I’ve also worked in inpatient  subacute rehabilitation.  It was a short term setting to get people who were discharged from the hospital a little extra time so they could get discharged home.  It was a brand new program at the time so I created some interesting programming there.  We had a “grooming group” there…typical for psychiatric programming but unusual for  a  physical disabilities setting.  It worked so well, I published an article that was accepted by an OT publication.  You can look it up if you’d like:  “Starting a “grooming Group” in a Subacute Rehabilitation Program” by Rona Kleinman (Silverstein).  It was published in OT Practice, Vol.2, Issue 6, June 1997.  I was very proud of that!

In Arkansas, my setting changed to both outpatient physical rehabilitation and inpatient psychiatry.  I ran a number of groups on the inpatient side.  Again, daily living tasks are the focus, but for people having pschiatric challenges, orientation, concentration, and attentional issues are most challenging.  I ran groups on current events, crafts and relaxation techniques.  I worked in conjunction with the nurses, social workers and recreation specialist.  Onthe outpatient physical rehabilitation part of my day there, I worked alongside physical therapists and treated people with hand problems, neuro problems and other physical disabilities.

When I landed in California, I worked in outpatient and currently I work at UCLA in this capacity.  I work in neurology, pediatrics and low vision.  In addition, I work with the pediatric rheumatology clinic and use my skills to address all of the above mentioned and with a multiple sclerosis wellness program to address the needs of this population.

In conclusion to this post, let me tell you it is not easy explaining what I do because it varies from patient to patient and client to client.  The crux of it all is, to have a healthy life there are three components:  work/play, self care and leisure.  To function well as a person, no one area should ever be overlooked.  This is when a good occupational therapist can address these very issues and be certain to assist in balancing these three spheres of daily life.

I hope this explanation helps!  Next post will give some examples of GADGETS!!!!

Welcome

This is my very first public blog.  It is the foundation of a company that is currently in formation.  It is based on my ideas that have been rolling around in my head for quite some time.  I’m an occupational therapist and have been practicing since 1992.  I love my career as I love to be a “tool” people use to get healthier.  I will be writing here from time to time and explain more about occupational therapy.  This first entry is to prepare you for what will be following. 

I have always loved gadgets from the time I was young.  I’m in my 5th decade of life, and the longer I live, I am noting that gadgets are not just for playing, they are for enriching our lives.  I plan to cite some of the many gadgets that I come across and prefer and share them with you.  At the same time, I hope to receive recommendations from you and look forward to a discussion about which one is the best.

In my line of work, I use gadgets to help the obese person who cannot get their socks on, the child who cannot hold a pencil very well, a person with low vision who cannot see a printed page, and recommend gadgets for the man or woman who lack dexterity and are unable to button or zip up their shirt or blouse.  Gadgets can be used to complement our function so we can lead independent lives.

Gadgets these days keep people organized as well.  People with disabilities as well as those with great health, both rely on gadgets to live our lives to the fullest.  It is in this philosophy that this blog shall go forth.  There is a role you play, of course, and that is to participate here.  I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Stay tuned!