After working for more than 15 years as a stock analyst covering senior housing and care and healthcare real estate companies, I try to apply what I learned professionally to my own lifestyle and care as I age. I am now 71 years old and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in September 2018. My Parkinson symptoms are well controlled with medication. I participate in Rock Steady boxing classes two or three days a week, have a once a week yoga class and, while the weather is good, I am playing one or two rounds of golf weekly (usually 9 holes). I also have speech therapy practice sessions for the LSVT Loud Program that I try to do several times a week.
My wife and I see ourselves as forward-thinking and well prepared for lifestyle changes as we age. Fifteen years ago we moved to a one-level condominium in an elevator-served 15 story building and our unit has wide door openings and no internal thresholds, which can be a fall risk. While our condo is well-designed for our current lifestyle and care needs, I recently decided to add a couple of grab bars in our walk-in shower in the master bath. Grab bars are not essential for my current condition. I can use the shower without them. But the grab bars should reduce the risk of a fall in the shower and you don’t want to prove you need grab bars by falling first. My movement disorders physician also recently adjusted my Parkinson’s medication, adding a time-released Carbidopa/Levodopa pill at bedtime to make my movement more fluid when I use the bathroom during the night.
After receiving their brochure from a Parkinson’s organization, we engaged a local firm, Home Safe Home (www.homesafehomemd.com – info@homesafehomemd.com – 410 394-8955) to perform an accessibility / safely audit of our condo. Home Safe Home recommended removing a number of small rugs and installing two grab bars in the showed in our master bath, which has about a 12 inch step to get in and out. Home Safe Home showed us samples of grab bars, ordered the bars we liked that matched the other chrome hardware in our shower and installed the bars though glass tile that we have in all of our bathrooms. The entire process required only one phone call from us and a few email exchanges. It took less that 30 days from our first phone call to installation, which took less than an hour, and the total cost for two grab bars and the home assessment was less than $500. If you are considering installing accessibility measures in your home for yourself or a loved one in the Baltimore area, I recommend Home Safe Home.
Excellent column! We removed our bathroom throw rugs after my knee replacement 3 years ago. They created problems with the walker I needed for a few weeks. We haven’t replaced them as we fear they would be a fall-risk. We haven’t yet thought about grab bars; they are now on my mental to-do list. All good ideas you’ve detailed.