A sweet lady named Lesli e-mailed me with some questions she has, along with some information on why she is curious. Please comment if you’d like to answer any of these questions. 🙂

These
questions are directed at patients that use commodes/raised toilet seats and
shower seats:

1. Do
   they use a commode or raised toilet seat at home?
2. Do
   they use a shower chair at home?
3. Are
   they typically seniors (i.e., elderly with weak
   upper strength)
4. Do
   they have an illness or paralysis which causes this mobility impairment?
5. Are
   some patients required to use commodes/raised toilet seats and shower
   seats as a result of knee or hip replacement surgery?
6. Is
   it possible to determine the percentage of patients using these assistive
   devices:
1. How
   many use a commode/raised toilet chair?
2. How
   many use a shower seat?
3. How
   many use a cane?
4. How
   many use a walker/rollator?
5. How
   many use a wheel chair?
6. How
   many are temporarily impaired due to surgery, accident, etc.?
7. Are
   they able to use handicap toilets in public areas? (i.e.,
   height of toilet and placement of bars is adequate for lifting purposes)
8. Are
   they afraid to leave home because they are unsure if they can use a toilet
   without the assistive device they have at home?
9. If
   they are not comfortable leaving home, how does this affect their mental
   attitude?
10. Do
    you find that the older the patient is, they are less willing to discuss “toileting
    issues” with you or other OTs?
11. Do
    you find that the older the patient is, they are more accepting of their
    physical limitations?
12. Have
    patients expressed frustration about not being able to travel because of
    their need for these devices away from home? (i.e.,
    another home or hotel most likely does not have these available to them)
13. If
    a travel product were available that would assist them with toileting and
    showering away from the security of their own home, would they be
    interested in purchasing one?
14. Can
    they place a value on this type of product? (freedom,
    peace of mind)

You are probably curious as to why I am
asking all these questions. Well, it started with my Mom and
Mother-in-Law, both with Rheumatoid Arthritis. My Mom also has a painful
muscular deterioration (myopathy). They are both required to use
commodes/raised toilet seats and shower seats at home, and use walkers/rollators
to get around inside and wheel chairs outside. Both are quite social, but
with their physical limitations – and the need for these assistive
devices – they are uncomfortable leaving home for any length of time,
just in case they need to use the toilet. Handicap toilets in public
restrooms are no longer an option for them, as the toilets do not provide the
required height and the bars are awkwardly placed so they do not provide the
support they need. They will both wear diapers away from home “just
in case”, however, it can be extremely humiliating for an elderly person
(they are in their 70’s) to actually “use” one.

Traveling has become more difficult has
well, as hotels do not provide commodes/raised toilet seats. Fortunately,
I am able to store these items at my home for their visits. When
traveling by car, we actually need to take my truck and a sedan (the truck for the “gizmos”,
as I call them), and the sedan because it is low enough for them to get into!

Well, all of this has created a significant passion
in me. Life needs to be easier, less stressful, and more accessible for
the mobility impaired. Statistics show that people are living longer;
however, we know that we will not be free of physical limitations. I
truly believe that the older generation was more accepting of this (and
succumbed to staying in the home). Fortunately, this is not acceptable to
the baby boomers and those to follow. We will not accept staying home,
nor do we want our aging parents to.

Karen, any comments that you, your
classmates or other OTs can provide would greatly assist me. Also, if you
can direct me to any website or contact person that can also provide me with
statistics or other valuable information, it would be wonderful also.

A good friend said:

OT students might want to check out the Society for Disability Studies conference in late June at Baruch College in Manhattan. Participation from OT students and related fields is welcome. Rates go up on May 1 but student discounts and cheap dorm housing is available. Please check out www.disstudies.org for details. A program schedule should be available in the coming weeks.

Cool website I heard about from an OT, that I wish I had known about while working on the Well Elderly Project:

www.eldersong.com “Creative Activity Materials for Older Adults”

Good quote from the presidential address at AOTA Conference (copy/pasted from an article on AOTA’s website): President Moyers Cleveland continued, saying that knocking on doors and developing leadership in the profession means that occupational therapy practitioners may sometimes need to be unreasonable. “‘No’ is not an answer we should accept,” Moyers Cleveland stated firmly. Practitioners need to take a ‘no’ and turn it into a question, asking themselves if were they creative enough to figure out how to get a ‘yes.’

Random cool news: my grandfather (and his group) had an article in Nature a few weeks ago regarding ribosomes! His group’s project made the cover!

(starting to clear out email box)

Brooke got 2.5 hours of sleep, Meg got 5, and I got 3. We were at the airport by 7pm…had an uneventful flight to LAX….One of our professors kindly drove us to Long Beach in his rental car, but not until we had our first mini crisis – Meg left her backpack in the rental car shuttle. We got that back, got into our hotel – early, thank goodness – and then we found out Brooke left her phone in his car. Second mini crisis lol.

We ended up wanting to go to In and Out Burger for lunch but the cab was too expensive for us and we were hungry enough that we finally just went to a little outdoor area with like shack food. I got tamales and corn with lime and salt and mayonaise and stuff, Brooke and Meg got more traditional Mexican. We then spent the next few hours walking around nonstop…something for Grand Prix was going on and blocking a lot of streets, we were pretty confused. Then we all slept for a few hours, and then meg and I went to ASD meetings and met some nice girls. We learned about the Special Interest Sections stuff, it helped clarify some issues. I also got to see some of the people I've working on projects with. Too bad I looked a “hot mess” as Southerners would say…ahahaha

We had an overly expensive dinner, oops, and now it's 942 and we are all lying in bed, exhausted. Gosh, we're getting old…the 20s are really hitting hard. JUST KIDDING.

So this wasn't the most exciting day or anything, but things overall went smoothly. Tomorrow starts early…hopefully will be fun. 🙂 As an AOTA Conference Blogger I'm asked to blog daily, but I'm assuming today doesn't count. I'm excited about meeting so many OT students, OT leaders, professors, clinicians, etc…I really enjoy meeting people with a passion for OT and all that it can promise…

BTW, our ASD meetings were in the Centennial Ballroom, which is ironic because of the CENTENNIAL VISION! HA HA HA!

Karen

PS: Brooke noted that the hand sensor for automatic towel dispenser in the handicapped stall at the rental place was too low. We all noted the entrance to the Hilton was not very handicap friendly and that the elevator buttons were not good for people with bad vision. Etc. Man are we dorks 🙂 

Packing for Conference, leaving in the morning…leaving house at 6:15am. Yuck. Going to have a great time though, especially with OTS Brooke and Meg by my side!!!!

Check out the AOTA blog – I get to blog daily there as an official AOTA Conference Blogger, yay! I am not taking my personal computer to conference, but they have a cybercafe, so you’ll be hearing from me.

http://aota2008conference.blogspot.com/