Help with house modifications

Hello, Have a look at the following website: www.theramppeople.co.uk.
They sell all kinds of portable ramps for accessing your home. We obtained a ramp with handrails to facilitate access to our home for my wife who is is disabled and uses a wheelchair. The ramp is very sturdy and left in situ permanently but can easily be removed and did not require any major modifications to our house. Gerrard

Gerrard thank you so much. I’ve just had a quick look and buying a portable ramp means it’s there for us when we need it without it being a permanent feature. It never occurred to me to look for a ramp supplier! Thanks again

Hi @Castle

Have been looking into the same. Tried for OT assessment but was told to go to social service, who sent a ( lengthy of course ) form to be completed for…OT assessment, which seems to be part of the Independent Living scheme. I don’t know if that is a national thing. We are in the Midlands. I suspect it will be a long wait to be seen/ assessed, and whether they will recommend anything other than what we already have ( seat raisers, commode etc) remains to be seen but like you I need some independent advice re what to get, rather than forking out on some expensive equipment sold by a company who assures me that it is exactly the thing that I need to solve all my problems.

Age UK produce a booklet ( at least in this area) with list of local trusted businesses so that is worth a look , to access advice without pressure ( hopefully)

Best wishes

So, we live in Cambridgeshire and their OT service can recommend house adaptations however, you have to have a ridiculously low income to be able to benefit from them. We were rejected, but were told to try my employer for assistance - who happened to be the people who said we had too high an income to be able to have assistance to get an accessible bathroom (go figure)

Thanks everyone. 10kmk, it’s all a bit nuts isn’t it! Just adds to the stress really as it takes up so much precious time to get nowhere.

I think we have sorted our needs with the portable ramps. We have a wheelchair for those no balance moments and a portable ramp will give us access to the house.

If it’s of interest to anyone the best things we’ve done are rails next to the loo, the stairlift is fantastic and taken soooo much worry away (although it’s not helpful for maintaining leg strength of course), portable ramp, wheelchair and probably our best buy has been a bidet toilet. Expensive but very very worth it. Oh and a grab rail that goes under the mattress.

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Just had a thought. Does your council have a 'technology assisted care’s team. they can advise and provide tech solutions to a lot of issues people have

I’ve just praised the installation of a bidet toilet on another post. Also a wet room with a remote control for the shower.

Hi @benji,
I have seen rather mixed reviews re bidet toilets - mostly that they neither clean or dry properly - not to mention that they are pretty expensive - is there a particular model you would recommend?

thanks

Pippa

Our loo was a really good purchase and we’ve just had the bathroom done with a remote so yes, full praise for these items too!

Hi pippa. We ended up with a washloo premier. We originally bought a washloo seat as we had a squareish toilet and didn’t want to replace the bathroom suite, just rearrange to make it work better. The seat was too long for our loo so we replaced the whole thing in the end. It was expensive! But it has been worth it, without going into details, it’s making life much easier for my lovely hubby and as his carer it helps me too. Worth investigating. Hope that helps

Hi,

The make of mine is uspa. The instruction booklet lists the following model numbers; 7035R, 7235, 7220, 7215, 7210, 7000.

I took the advice of a specialist wet room installer. He also brought at least 3 toilets for me to choose f rom to ensure a good fit for the system so no toilet bowl protruding out beyond the bidet. Looks like a normal toilet but higher. I suggest a high rise toilet bowl.

It is touch control with the following functions: cleaning, bidet oscillation, kids, sitz bath and stop. You can stop any of these functions at any time, you don’t have to go through the full programmed time, by touching … stop.

There are also touch controls for nozzle position, water temperature, water pressure and seat temperature. It also has a soft close seat.

Mine is plumbed in so no having to top up the water.

I find it great. Very little maintenance beyond wiping it over. No chemicals should be used. Yes, they are expensive but worth every penny.

Regards

R

Many thanks Benji

You are very welcome.

Pippa,

As for cleaning and drying. You do have to be in the correct position for both to be successful!

Have just found (buried deep in my Favourites - so presumably accessed ages ago and then forgotten about) a website with a lot of really useful info about all things “independent” - www.independentliving.co.uk. Does not seem to be linked to any particular provider but I have not looked carefully enough as yet - advice re toileting issues amongst others seems to be on a par with what other experienced users are saying on here. So much info out there - it is just a question of knowing where to look and can sometimes feel like searching for the proverbial needle.

Just had an e mail notification with your query. As I said previously, I didn’t want the toilet to look out of place. It took many toilets in my conservatory to find one where the rim of the toilet did not jut out beyond the bidet function addition.

Hi,

The make of mine is uspa. The instruction booklet lists the following model numbers; 7035R, 7235, 7220, 7215, 7210, 7000.

I took the advice of a specialist wet room installer. He also brought at least 3 toilets for me to choose f rom to ensure a good fit for the system so no toilet bowl protruding out beyond the bidet. Looks like a normal toilet but higher. I suggest a high rise toilet bowl.

It is touch control with the following functions: cleaning, bidet oscillation, kids, sitz bath and stop. You can stop any of these functions at any time, you don’t have to go through the full programmed time, by touching … stop.

There are also touch controls for nozzle position, water temperature, water pressure and seat temperature. It also has a soft close seat.

Mine is plumbed in so no having to top up the water.

I find it great. Very little maintenance beyond wiping it over. No chemicals should be used. Yes, they are expensive but worth every penny.

Regards

R

Reply

Pippa

Aug 15

Many thanks Benji

Reply

benji

Aug 16

You are very welcome.

Reply

benji

Aug 16

Pippa,

As for cleaning and drying. You do have to be in the correct position for both to be successful!

Reply

8 DAYS LATER

Pippa

Aug 24

Have just found (buried deep in my Favourites - so presumably accessed ages ago and then forgotten about) a website with a lot of really useful info about all things “independent” - www.independentliving.co.uk . Does not seem to be linked to any particular provider but I have not looked carefully enough as yet - advice re toileting issues amongst others seems to be on a par with what other experienced users are saying on here. So much info out there - it is just a question of knowing where to look and can sometimes feel like searching for the proverbial needle.

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Hi,

The make of mine is uspa. The instruction booklet lists the following model numbers; 7035R, 7235, 7220, 7215, 7210, 7000.

I took the advice of a specialist wet room installer. He also brought at least 3 toilets for me to choose f rom to ensure a good fit for the system so no toilet bowl protruding out beyond the bidet. Looks like a normal toilet but higher. I suggest a high rise toilet bowl.

It is touch control with the following functions: cleaning, bidet oscillation, kids, sitz bath and stop. You can stop any of these functions at any time, you don’t have to go through the full programmed time, by touching … stop.

There are also touch controls for nozzle position, water temperature, water pressure and seat temperature. It also has a soft close seat.

Mine is plumbed in so no having to top up the water.

I find it great. Very little maintenance beyond wiping it over. No chemicals should be used. Yes, they are expensive but worth every penny.

Regards

Yes it’s very stable.

Just encase any future readers need help:
https://www.rapidramp.co.uk/residential

This company do portable ramps however specialise in permanent ramps. Best wishes,

House modification is necessary and as well as some tools are even more crucial like vacuum cleaners that are used to clean the dust and dirt from floors.

hi we have just had a ramp put in going up to the front door and a new wider front door this was done through a disabled access grant from the local council in conjunction with the o/t
i would try phoning your local council and if you have no luck then get o/t involved as they carry bigger clout than a individual
hope this helps

For general information following Sharon 87’s post

Generally speaking the role of an occupational therapist when it comes to home modification is to make recommendations on what is needed in any particular situation. Those recommendations have to meet various criteria set out in legislation and it is not the OT who will have the final word. That falls to the local council if a tenant or whoever administers the disabled facilities grant if a home owner, private renting etc. In reality the recommendations are usually accepted but quite heated debate can happen if the council or grant administrators think there is a cheaper solution especially near the end of the financial year when money gets tight. If this happens to you don’t lose heart. An OT assessment should demonstrate why those recommendations were made and why a possible cheaper alternative is not suited in this particular circumstance. It may delay a decision but it is usually agreed in the end. I think it is important to know however that the final decision is not made by the OT. It is also worth noting that towards the end of the financial year when money is tight some jobs may be held over until the start of the new financial year which will of course mean some delay.
Tot