Easy Things to Make to Make Things Easy: Simple Do-It-Yourself Home Modifications for Older People and Others With Physical Limitations (Paperback)

~ Suzanne Bloom (Illustrator) Doreen Brenner Greenstein (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The newest addition to Dr. Greenstein’s practical how-to-do-it series for individuals with physical limitations (see also Backyards & Butterflies). This delightfully illustrated, large-print format book is filled with suggestions to make life easier, safer, and more enjoyable for older people and others with physical limitations. Included are low-cost modification ideas for the home environment, ways to make daily activities more enjoyable, and important information for caregivers. All the adaptations described can be made easily and inexpensively, using common materials. Specific activities range from gardening with one hand to making a kitchen sink wheelchair-accessible.

Product Details

• Paperback: 109 pages
• Publisher: Brookline Books (May 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571290249
• ISBN-13: 978-1571290243
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #801,176 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quality of Life Enhancing Improvements for At-Home Joy!, January 31, 2001

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This book clearly deserves more than five stars for the very high benefit to cost ratio involved in the suggested solutions.

Most disabled or elderly people would prefer to be in their own home. At home care is expensive, and most people do not have long-term care insurance. (Although, if you can afford it, this is a good investment at around age 65.) Most people bought or rented their homes to raise a family in, or to live as a fully-functioning adult. As soon as one becomes more frail, or even slightly disabled, these homes present many frustrations and challenges. Before moving out or hiring help, I suggest that you avail yourself of the many helpful suggestions in this book. They are cost-effective and relatively easy adjustments that are well worth the effort and investment involved.

I strongly recommend that all physically disabled and elderly people have a copy. The children and grandchildren of these people should also read this book, because they can help make the modifications. In addition, caregivers should become familiar with these ideas so they can help improve the home environments for those they serve.

The book focuses on the needs of those in wheelchairs, people with trouble gripping (from arthritis or a weakness), those are unsteady on their feet (from dizziness, weakness, or complications), individuals with the use of only one hand, and people who are not as mobile as they once were. Research has shown that people in these circumstances can replace the need for more care by making household modifications. For those who need care, these modifications can reduce the level of care required and improve safety.

The time to make these changes yourself is before you need them, especially for grab bars and lowered sinks. Looking at this book about the time your AARP card is starting to get a little worn around the edges should give you plenty of time to prepare.

The author wrote this book from her own experiences as an advocate for the disabled and helping her elderly parents live at home. Many suggestions came from people who thought up the solutions themselves. The book's stated purpose is "to get you thinking about your own situation and get your creative ideas going." The book is not a comprehensive solution for every need, but it certainly shares many wonderful ideas . . . at least some of which will be helpful to anyone.

There are six chapters, plus a list of resources you can draw upon. These chapters include:

Bathroom & Washing Up

Bedroom & Getting Dressed

Kitchen & Meal Time

Living Room & Leisure Activities

Housekeeping & Getting Around

Outdoor Activities & Home Security

Let me describe the last chapter in more detail to give you a flavor for all that is in this wonderful book. Space limitations prevent me from providing more detail. This chapter includes adjustments for patios and porches, ramps, a salt shaker for ice melting, pulley-based hanging plant baskets and bird feeders, combined planter boxes and benches, raised flower beds, smaller gardening tools, ways to garden with one hand, container gardening tools, making your own seed tape, household security, making keys easier to use. Like all of the sections, it also contains notes for caregivers.

Here are some of my favorite ideas in the entire book: customizing a walker so you can do tasks with it more easily; lowering the "hot" water temperature so you cannot burn yourself; using dining smocks from old shirts instead of bibs; a playing card holder; one-handed broom; salt shaker for ice melting (I plan to make one of those for myself since I recently had surgery and cannot lift very much); hot pad using the microwave; build-up handles for gripping; drying yourself with a terry cloth bath robe instead of a bath tower; light-switch extensions; pulley-based bird feeders; and long handles for reaching.

I also think this book can stimulate your mind, as it was intended to do. Many people with restricted physical capabilities find themselves becoming less mentally active. This book should help reduce that problem, and provide new reasons to be hopeful.

Whatever your age and physical situation, your mind can extend your reach and your grasp. What do you think is beyond you? How can you reorganize how you pursue those activities to make them feasible?

Dare the possible dream . . . even about that which seems "impossible."

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Little things mean a lot, December 15, 1999

By A Customer

This book is a distillation of the author's background in disability advocacy, her career in assistive technology design and extension at a major university, and her personal experience as caregiver for two frail elderly parents. Written in a clear, down to earth style, the book is crammed with practical ideas for simple and inexpensive modifications for homes and items in daily use by elderly and disabled people. On each page I found myself wondering: "Why didn't I think of that?"

You needn't have an O.T. degree to know whether a project will be helpful for you - the needs and uses are clearly explained. Nor must you be wealthy or an experienced handyman to complete the projects - some take minutes and cost under $5. Best of all, the modifications look natural and homelike, not clunky or hospital-ish. Suzanne Bloom's clear, graceful line drawings show exactly how the projects will look and how to create them. Every page glows with caring and respect.

This book is a must-have for anyone caring for an elderly or physically disabled person, or just growing old gracefully.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not really for the disabled, January 5, 2003

By A Customer

I found this book to be focused primarily on the physical limitations of aging and not for persons with disabilities. I would recommend one of the several books on Universal homes if you are looking to really help improve the living spaces for someone who has a disability or degenerative disease. Low cost alternatives for strength and reaching issues of aging were the primary focus of this book.