Mobility Aids for the elderly

My elderly grandmother has fallen a couple of times in the last few weeks and we want to get her a walker and have a few other things fitted around the house, rails etc. The district nurse has said that an occupational therapist looks after these things and has requested an appointment but they're very busy and it will be a while. My gran is 93 and I want to get things sorted as soon as possible, I've no problem paying for aids has anyone any ideas where I'd get such things and / or someone to fit them? I'm in Dublin the house is in Meath.

Also as she now needs someone with her 24/7 is my mum entitled to any allowances as she's living with her.

Your mum might be entitled to Carer's Allowance - have a look at www.welfare.ie for more information.

shaking said:

My elderly grandmother has fallen a couple of times in the last few weeks and we want to get her a walker .................

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I'm no expert on these but my understanding is that there many different types of 'walker' for different conditions.
How is it decided which is appropriate for an individual ?
I dont know. If I were you I would seek advice on this.

shaking said:

and have a few other things fitted around the house, rails etc.

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I have found a good selection of grab rails in woodies ( this was 5+ years ago so not sure about now ) They are easy enough to install so long as you can get a good fixing on the walls concerned.

Grab rails all seem to be white(ish). People with poor vision may find them hard to find if they are fixed to white walls / white tiles in bathrooms. I got around this by shrinking blue or red sleeving onto the white grab rail ( but I guess a lot of people wouldn't do this )

IIRC Fannins and a company called Dobbs ( I think ) supply into this market, doubtless there are others.

Does your grandmother use a shower ? if so has she got a ( plastic ) chair for it ?

Does she use a bath ? if so, how does she get in and out ? there are various devices available for this ( er, I could call them electric chairs for a bath but that might give the wrong idea )

The single most important matter is that your grandmother will be happy to go along with what you are proposing !

Olddog

Thanks olddog soem good points especially the one about the colour of grab rails. She has a chair for the shower, gave up on baths a long time ago she was a bit afraid of the electric chair. I get your point about the walkers I just want to get her something before she breaks a hip.

It might be useful to have a look at assistireland.ie (see intro below), although I would reiterate that you probably need professional advice as to exactly what will suit your mother.


Welcome to assistireland.ie. This website is provided by the Citizens Information Board. It contains information on assistive technology and a directory of products available from Irish suppliers for people with disabilities and older people.

Shaking, this is not quite answering your question but I just thought I'd mention that I have something that might be helpful to your Gran. It's a sort of tray/trolley for the purposes of eating meals while sitting in your armchair. If you want to PM me please do so.

Assistireland.ie is a good starting point (as recommended above). There is some stuff on a commercial site accessdirectory.ie also. Lidl or Aldi do 'specials' on some of these aids from time to time.

However, you really do need input from an OT. Try pushing the district nurse to see how soon you can get an appointment. If not, maybe a private OT might be an option, if you can cover this cost (and then ask your local Govt TD why you had to pay twice for this service).

PetPal thanks for the offer, my gran has a laptray which she uses for meals so we're okay in that department.

I eventually got through to an answering machine in the OT dept on Friday they then called my mum back and said they're having a meeting about her tomorrow fingers crossed something good will come out of that. In the meantime I've managed to borrow a walking frame which is a huge help.

I looked into a private OT online and there's only 1 listed in Meath and the number seems to be disconnected. I think I may just have to pay over the odds to persuade a private OT to travel from Dublin.