Aids for Independent Living - Readers' Tips

Aids for independent living. Information supplied by consumer.org.nz

We asked Consumer readers for tools and gadgets that made life easier - and you came up with some very practical solutions.

Hard-to-undo lids were clearly a bugbear. People suggested various means of attack: coarse sandpaper, non-slip matting or even a nut cracker.

Here are a few other useful ideas:

• If writing quickly is difficult, keep a calculator by the phone. When you need to take down a number, tap it out on the calculator and write it down later.
• Satin sheets make it easier to turn over in bed.
• A magnet on a piece of string is a quick way of picking up dropped pins, keys or other metal objects.
• A touch lamp by the bed means you don't have to grope for a switch (it must have an approval number for electrical safety).
• Sock pullers are invaluable if you can't bend easily, or if you have difficulty pulling with your fingertips.
• "Universal" bath or sink plugs are easier to pull out - or you can attach a curtain ring to an ordinary plug.
• Kitchen tools with thick, chunky handles are easier to grip.
• "Finger-hole" plugs on appliances are quick and safe to release.
• An electric can opener makes a practical gift.

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