Being able to operate everything around you, and being able to get around, is pretty essential to your sense of independence. If you don’t feel like you can get around your own home, use your own bathroom facilities, or make simple trips into town, you may feel like your quality of life has been diminished. In modern times, there is no need for anybody, regardless of age or mobility, not to be able to do the thing they want to do, but sometimes it is important to have the right gadgets to help. Here we look at the top five gadgets senior citizens can use to help retain their independence, and live life to the fullest:
Mobility Scooters
Image Source: Wikipedia
Scooters really are the top gadget that older people or people with disabilities can use to help them enjoy their lives. They are designed to be comfortable, and to have facilities for carrying shopping, walking sticks and other important things. They are designed to help elderly people who have trouble walking for long distances, and also anybody who has sustained a disability where walking around town is no longer possible. Mobility scooters have been somewhat controversial, because there are legal implications around people driving them after drinking, but on the whole, they are a great invention that helps a lot of older people get around!
Handybars
Bars designed to fit to the steering wheel of a car and help people who don’t have full mobility for both of their arms are very helpful to people with shoulder or arm problems, or people who have suffered from a stroke and no longer have full movement in both of their arms. Handybars can be fitted to the steering wheel of just about any car, and can be used to steer easily with one hand.
Circulation Boosters
Devices that vibrate and are designed to boost circulation in the legs are very popular with people who are elderly, disabled, or who simply live a sedentary lifestyle and need more exercise. They vibrate and the user places their feet on the plates, which stimulates blood flow from the feet to the rest of the body. In people with relatively low activity levels, blood can pool in the lower legs, so stimulating circulation from the feet upwards can help prevent ankle bloating, as well as promote general cardiovascular health.
Tap Turners
Image Source: Wikipedia
Devices that make it easier to turn water taps on and off when it isn’t possible to get a good grip on the tap itself are popular with older people who suffer from problems like arthritis and don’t necessarily have the ability to grip tap heads in the same way that people with healthier hands can. Tap turners are simple devices that fit to taps and provide a simple lever that can be used to open and close the tap, instead of having to grip it with the hand and turn the faucet in the normal way. These can make it much easier for people with reduced hand mobility to use the bathroom and kitchen sinks.
Stairlifts
Stairs can become a real problem as people get older and lose strength and mobility in their knees and hips. Of course, nobody wants to have to move out of their home purely because it has stairs when they start to find them a problem, so stairlifts can be a great investment. They can allow people to easily navigate the stairs in their homes by simply sitting on the comfortable lift and activating it, getting up when they are on the upper floor of their home. Stairlifts are very important to a lot of older people, making previously difficult to access areas of the home accessible once more.
Buying mobility gadgets really can make a big difference to quality of life for senior citizens or people with disabilities.
Harold Rigby is a regular blogger on lifestyle topics for older people, including mobility, retirement, and senior citizen finance.
