Fabulous hints if you care for an elderly person or someone with a disability.

Each month Work ‘n’ Care brings you something clever, simple and money-saving from our favourite Australian savings website – www.simplesavings.com.au

This month we have had a good look through one of their discussion threads on health that targets ideas for elderly people and people with a disability.

Here is a small sample of what you can find there. We hope you will find some of these ideas useful, but encourage you to go to their website and see some of the other great solutions on offer in a wide variety of categories.

Free dental work through Medicare

If you have a chronic disease, such as mental illness or diabetes, you might be eligible for up to $4000 of free dental work through Medicare.

Make a 30 minute appointment with your doctor and they will fill out the paperwork and send you off to a dentist if you don't know one. This scheme is not well publicised so take advantage of it before it finishes.

More info at: www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/provider/medicare/initiatives/teen-dental.jsp

There are links here to the Medicare Teen Dental Plan and another link called ‘for more information’ – take this second link to the Department of Health and Ageing website.  Then go to the link ‘chronic disease dental items’.

$10 mobility scooter cover

A friend of mine just saved $90 on a cover for his new mobility scooter! As he has only a carport, it was suggested that purchasing a cover to protect the scooter would be a good idea. However, the cover would cost $100. Not to be deterred, in true simple savings style he went to Bunnings and instead picked up a BBQ cover for just $10! Works just as well and even has Velcro tabs which stop the cover from blowing away in the wind!

Free calls for pensioners

My hint is mainly for those people on a pension or Health Care Card who find that paying telephone line rental is eating into their budget too much.

Did you know that Telstra has what is called an 'InContact Service' especially for pensioners and Health Care Card holders? This service provides for incoming calls into the home free of charge. This equates to a saving of between $22 to $35 per month, and you can still call '000'.

Also, a Telstra 'PhoneAway Card' can be purchased from any newsagency for around $20 and can be used to make outgoing calls on your home phone at a cost of $0.49c per call (except for 1800, 1900 and 1300 numbers). The card can also be topped up over the phone if desired, using a free call.

Here is the InContact link:
http://www.telstra.com.au/abouttelstra/commitments/access-for-everyone/az-products-solutions/index.htm#azlist_incontact

Here is the link for Telstra PhoneAway:
http://www.telstra.com.au/homephone/callingcards/phoneaway/index.html

Easy, affordable aids for the elderly

There are a number of aids that are cheap and easy for the elderly, such as:

- BBQ tongs rather than the long handled reachers.

- Going to a plumbing store to buy some rubber pipe insulation (sometimes called Bradflex) that you can slip over the handles of things to build up the handles. Just check the diameter of the hole in the middle of the insulation, to make sure it is not too large for the handle you want to build up.

- When you next see some non-slip material (grocery stores or Spotlight - sometimes called 'miracle grip'), buy a small amount, as it is great for opening bottles, jars and turning taps that are tight (much cheaper than bottle openers and tap turners).

- Novelty pens or complimentary pens are often bigger in diameter than usual, some even have non-slip grips - a larger pen is easier to hold on to and write with than a normal slimline pen.

For unsteady feet

If you are unsteady on your feet and wary of taking a shower, wear a pair of thongs or plastic shoes that can get wet. Non-slip protection for just a few dollars!

Hundreds saved on bathroom aids after surgery

We saved over $400 on making life a little easier after surgery, thanks to some clever thinking! I have just returned home after a week in hospital following spinal surgery. They really look after you in hospital and provide helpful aids, such as an over-the-toilet seat. Something like this helps enormously with your independence and dignity. I asked my husband to try to find one we could buy or hire for the first week or so at home. He found a site which sells all kinds of such devices - but at huge prices. We found an over-the-toilet chair for $180, a shower chair for $258.95 and a reacher (I can’t bend to pick things up) for $82.85. Total cost $521.80!

I suggested that perhaps one of our plastic garden chairs would work well for a shower chair. I was right! Then my husband took it one step further – he took another of the chairs, cut the slats out from the seat, then placed it over the toilet. It works a treat! You would not appreciate it unless you’ve been there, but just to have those arms to support you getting on and off the toilet is fantastic. Our toilet has become a “show and tell” to all visitors! To top it off, at Bunnings we found a gripper which I use all the time for picking up things from the floor, or for pulling up my track pants!

We didn’t need to buy the chairs, but if you did, you can pick them up at the local department store or hardware store for less than $10 each. The gripper cost less than $20. So for a total outlay of $50, we have saved $471.80!

One of our readers has made a important comment "I understand they (the chairs) are expensive but the plastic on outdoor furniture can become very soft when exposed to hot water and the chairs have been known to collapse."  This is a timely reminder that information on this website is made available to assist those in need. The information in no way replaces advice from a medical professional. We recommend seeking professional advice where it is relevant.

Non-slip grips for arthritis

I have arthritis and sometimes find it helps to cut 5cm strips of non-slip matting and put it around cups, jars and so on. Just secure with a few rubber bands. This really helps me to hold onto them, even if I only have my thumb and forefinger holding on and the rest of my hand resting around it.

Turn pages easily with thimbles

To help the elderly to turn pages when reading or thumbing through papers, I find them helpful to use a rubber thimble, available from most newsagents. These are particularly helpful for people with arthritis.

You can also use them when you're putting your bills and accounts/paper work into order. The thimbles are less than $1.00 each and it is good to buy a few at a time, and keep one in your purse so you always have one handy.

Uses for discarded baby monitors

Use a baby monitor to hear your invalid calling! I have recently brought my son (nearly 12) home from hospital and he is totally dependent upon me for absolutely everything. At night, I can't hear him from my room, so I managed to find a second hand baby monitor, to keep beside his bed.

He calls and I can hear him on the receiver - very helpful also when I'm around the house cleaning, as you can take the receiver with you. Ask around your friends and family - most people have had one when their children were babies, and stuffed it away in a cupboard somewhere. I can't imagine how much mine has saved on wall repairs from an angry boy's thumping who needs to go to the toilet!

Simple Savings will get you through

Pension and allowance are not a large amount for full time carers but you can get by if you live the Simple Savings way. My husband and I are full time carers for two very disabled children. Our boys don't sleep all night so we take it in turns to go without sleep but my hubby bought a boat (a small tinnie) so he can get out and enjoy a well-earned break when needed. My advice to any fellow carers is first and foremost, get rid of as much debt as possible. We sold our house and bought an older style home in a small town near a great special school. Any extra money was put into an account to help out in the future.