Bob

Bob is in his sixties and lives with his wife. He has stopped taking baths as getting into the bath has become too difficult for him. When he last tried to transfer into his bath he found he could not step over the bath side and nearly lost his balance. Bob has been strip washing at the sink but misses taking a bath. Bob's wife Sarah still uses the bath, but is experiencing difficulty turning the bath and basin taps on/off due to arthritis in her fingers and wrists. She also has reduced sensation in her fingers and nearly scalded herself when she got into a bath she had filled with hot water. They completed the 'Taking a bath' section together on AskSARA and it suggested: Read Bob's report

Sabitha

Sabitha had been finding it increasingly difficult to get on and off of her bed, particularly lifting her legs onto bed. She had occasionally been sleeping on her settee due to this difficulty and this has meant that she had been sleeping poorly and then struggling to complete and concentrate on tasks during the day. Her husband had tried to assist her to lift her legs into bed but his back had started to ache. He had been considering whether he needed to arrange carer assistance in the evening to assist his wife with bed transfers.
Sabitha completed the AskSARA section on 'Your bed' and it suggested: Read Sabitha's AskSARA report

Sabitha followed AskSARAs advice to have an Occupational therapy assessment via her local social services. The therapist assessed her in her home and recommended:
1. Bed raisers, to ensure that the bed was at an appropriate height for sitting onto and standing up from.
2. A manual leg lifter for Sabitha's to raise her legs to the height of the mattress.
Sabitha can now get in and out of her bed with relative ease and hasn't slept on her settee for months.

Anthony

Anthony is concerned he may soon have a nasty fall down his stairs. Three times in the last month he has lost his balance at the turn near the top of his stairs and nearly fallen. He believes the problem is that there is nothing to hold on to at the turn as the banister is out of reach. Anthony is also concerned that now the winter mornings are darker he has to go down his stairs in the dark. He cannot turn the stair light on from upstairs as there is only one light switch for the light and it is downstairs. As a result of these difficulties Anthony has spent several nights sleeping in his reclining armchair thus avoiding the need to use his stairs. He completed the 'Your stairs' section on AskSARA and it suggested: Read Anthony's report

Henry

Henry is in his late 70s and lives alone since the death of his wife two years ago. Over the last 6 months he has been finding shopping progressively more difficult. He drives to his local supermarket but finds it difficult transferring in and out of his car and when walking around the supermarket. Henry finds carrying his shopping difficult, and tiring. His friend suggested he use a shopping trolley but Henry is adamant he doesn't need one. He would prefer an alternative, more discreet method of carrying his shopping. Henry has found he is increasingly forgetting items that he intended to purchase and he has to pay in cash as he cannot remember his cards PIN number. He completed the 'Shopping' section on AskSARA and it suggested: Read Henry's report

Violet

Violet was experiencing difficulty using her telephone. Telephone calls are very important to Violet as they provide her with a means of keeping in touch with her family. Her two daughters live over a hundred miles away and she does not see them very often, but does speak to them on the phone at least twice a week. However, Violet was finding she could no longer dial their numbers, she would mix up the number or press the wrong number by mistake. To make matters worse, when she received a call Violet often did not pick up her phone in time to take the call. She was missing her daughter's calls and unable to ring them. Violet's youngest daughter had brought her a mobile phone to try and help the situation but Violet couldn't use its small buttons. She completed the 'Using the telephone' section on AskSARA and it suggested: Read Violet's report

Mandy

Mandy likes to send and receive emails from her grandchildren and a friend who lives in France. She prefers to use a laptop as it is more compact than a desktop and she can put it away when not in use. Mandy has difficulty with her sight. She has been shown how to enlarge items on the screen but has difficulty seeing the letters on the keyboard and with using the mousepad. She knows she can plug an extra keyboard and mouse into her laptop but wonders if any are available which she may find easier to use. She completed the 'Using a computer' section on AskSARA and it suggested: Read Mandy's report

Albert and Elizabeth

Elizabeth was experiencing difficulty standing from her toilet, and started holding onto / pulling on her washbasin for support when standing from the toilet. One day the basin came away from the wall when she pulled on it. It only came away a little bit but this shocked Elizabeth and she mentioned it to her husband Albert. He confided to Elizabeth that he was having to go to the loo several times at night and finding it a long and tiring trip. They searched for toilet equipment on the internet and found AskSARA completing the 'Getting to the Toilet' and 'Sitting and Standing from the toilet' sections. Their reports advised Albert to consult his G.P and Elizabeth to have an occupational therapy assessment. Albert's G.P prescribed him medication that cut the times he needed to use the toilet at night. He also chose a commode from AskSARA's list of wooden commodes and uses it in their bedroom. Elizabeth received a prescription for grab rails and a raised toilet seat from her occupational therapist. However, she remembered having seen raised toilet seats with lids on AskSARA and preferred the appearance of these seats. When exchanging her prescription for a toilet seat she paid extra ('topped-up') for a toilet seat with a lid. AskSARA helped them choose the equipment that met their needs and preferences. Read Albert's report or read Elizabeth's report