National Arthritis Week takes place from the 7th to the 10th of October. This year's theme is Let's Get Physical, which is pretty catchy thanks to the Oliva Newton-John song. Let's get physical, physical. The theme is to bring awareness to the importance of exercise for those with arthritis, and it's one of the well-known but underutilised treatments.

Why is Exercise Important for People with Arthritis?

Pain can become associated with particular movements. A person may avoid that motion, meaning that muscle isn't getting used and becomes weaker. This can lead to muscle weakness, and the muscle will need to work harder the next time the movement is repeated. Keeping the joints exercised keeps them in a healthy condition. It helps to prevent stiffness caused by immobility.

Being overweight is a factor in the chances of developing arthritis as you get older as it puts unnecessary strain on the joints. Exercise can help you become healthy and reduce the stress that excess weight puts on the joints.

What is the Best Exercise for Someone with Arthritis?

Low impact exercises and stretches are perfect for those with arthritis as they will avoid causing further damage to the joints and have a possible impact. Focus on the areas of your body affected by arthritis, and find some movements that can slowly increase your strength while also improving the joint's flexibility.

Tenura has recently released a blog that looks at some great hand exercises for arthritis you can do to improve mobility and reduce hand pain.

High-impact exercise could cause further damage and inflammation in already sore joints. Running wouldn't be a good exercise, but a walk or very light jog could be a good start. But it would help if you warmed up first.

How do I start Exercising with Arthritis?

Following a YouTube tutorial may be a good start, or you could find a local fitness class to ensure you get out and remain active. Be sure to tell the instructor of any health conditions you have so they can amend their class accordingly. By attending classes, you increase the chances of sticking to your daily exercises.

We have some more beginner ideas in our Activities in the Sun for People with Arthritis blog, which you can read for further exercise tips.

Can Arthritis be Reversed with Exercise?

Arthritis can't be reversed by exercise is a treatment for arthritis as it can improve the flexibility in the joint, getting good blood flow to the area and reduce stiffness. Exercise can also be a good preventative measure. Being overweight puts a lot of excess strain on joints. Exercise can help you lose weight/maintain a healthy weight.

Does Inactivity Make Arthritis Worse?

It certainly can; immobility will cause the joints to seize up, and stiffness will set in. This stiffness can be painful. Therefore, you should make sure to stand up and stretch at least once an hour.

Bein inactive also leads to weakness in muscles and joints as well as weight gain, which can have detrimental effects on those with arthritis.

 

Tenura hopes you have found this blog helpful. We have also got a special discount code for you, NAW10 (10% discount). We hope you find some Tenura arthritis aids that can help you maintain an independent lifestyle.

Physiotherapy awareness day takes place on the 8th of September every year, with a special focus on Osteoarthritis for 2022.

What is Osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis is a type of arthritis, which can occur due to injury, hereditary factors, age, weight and gender. It affects people of the age of 45 and is a more prominent condition in women, 12:1. Osteoarthritis affects the joints and can cause tenderness, pain, stiffness and knobbly-looking joints. It can also have an effect on the muscles around the joint, and they can become weaker and waste away due to the lack of movement, likely because of the pain when moving the joint.

 

Can Osteoarthritis Be Cured?

No, it can’t be cured, but there are daily things you can do to help maintain an independent lifestyle and reduce pain. 

• Exercise – you can follow the Tenura guide for hand exercises
• Losing weight – this will put less strain on your joints, lightening the load on your knees
• Medication – seek advice from your doctor for the correct course of painkillers
• Anti-inflammatories – Inflamed areas of skin can be treated with anti-inflammatory

 

What Products Can Help With Osteoarthritis?

Even the NHS website mentions the benefits of assistive devices that can help with Osteoarthritis. We want to add to that list and demonstrate a few Tenura arthritis aids that can help.

Improve Your Writing With Arthritis Aids

If you struggle to write as your wrists and muscles become painful, try a utensil grip around the pencil or other thin handles objects such as cutlery or a toothbrush.

Get a Better Grip with Silicone Grip-Enhancement

Grip strips and silicone grip rolls are a great way to improve your grip on many objects, no matter their size. Use grip strips around small objects or handles, and the grip roll can be wrapped around larger objects for more grip and control over them.

Stand and Sit With Improved Mobility

Osteoarthritis can affect the knees, which makes standing up and sitting down tricky. You can use a Tenura non-slip floor mat to aid you when moving. The floor mat provides the user with grip and a good foothold to assist with mobility and reduce the risk of slips and falls.

 

Enjoy all the products mentioned above, plus all other Tenura daily living aids at a 10% discount with the code PAD10.

If you want to enhance your mobility when in an automobile, we have summarized some helpful Tenura daily living aids that are a great help. Getting in and out of the vehicle can be a pain so let's see if we can assist with this issue.

Help Getting In and Out of a Car

Placing a Tenura anti-slip floor mat in the footwell and, if required, one just outside of the door, on the floor, can help you get the foothold you need to exit the car safely. Tenura floor mats are non-slip and reduce the risk of slips and falls.

Improve Car Seat Comfort

Use Tenura anti-slip fabric under your car chair cushion so that it doesn't slip whilst you are on the move. If the cushion moves out of place, it could cause further discomfort for the passenger.

Stop Loose Objects Sliding When You're on the Move

Things such as your medication, phone or a drink can slide around the car if you haven't secured them. They can distract the driver, so you should place your loose articles on a Tenura Extreme mat, which means you will have a visual aid, helping you remember where you put your belongings and improving the safety of the journey for all.

Get a Better Grip On Your Seatbelt

By wrapping Tenura silicone grip roll around your seatbelt, you can ensure a better grip. The silicone is grip-enhancing and soft, and it will allow you to grasp the seatbelt better. You can even build up the silicone to make the seatbelt broader and more comfortable to hold.

Line Your Trunk to Prevent

The stuff you store in your trunk often isn't secured and will likely move about while you travel. This movement can affect the car's motion; lining your trunk with Tenura non-slip netting can prevent this. Tenura anti-slip fabric will keep your belongings in place, making them easier to remove from the car when you've arrived.

Improve Grip on Car Door Handles

On the inside of the car door, you can wrap Tenura grip strips around the handles to add the soft silicone that's grip-enhancing. This will improve your grip on the handle and make it easier for you to exit the car safely.

 

We hope you have discovered some car aids that you can use to enhance car travel safety. If you require more information about the products mentioned in the blog, follow the product page links or contact us via phone, email, or the enquiry form at the top of the website.

Come and see us at the FIME Show this year (July 27-29). We will be at stand U35 in the Platinum Hall! We love this exhibition and come back every year to meet the latest and greatest in the industry. Come and talk to us to discuss the prospects and benefits of working with Tenura.

FIME Shows are great fun and connect the healthcare community, bringing us all under one roof. It’s a leading medical trade fair and exhibition where we come to display ground-breaking products and services, such as Tenura daily living aids. 

The FIME show lets you get hands-on with the products and speak to us face-to-face.

There’s quite the array of speakers this year, from Harvard professors to record-holding athletes. Each speaker imparts useful information that can help develop goals in your personal and professional life.

If you want to explore the Tenura range beforehand, you can via the products page. You can also get in touch for more information you can by phoning, emailing, or using the inquiry form at the top of the site.

When you see the different types of grip we use in our daily lives, it can help you to create your own exercises to help you stretch and improve hand dexterity, so let's explore some of the typical grips:

• Hammers Grip/­Cylindrical Grip

Holding a hammer, screwdriver, golf clubs, and wheelbarrow handles

• Precision Grip

Holding thin items like a needle or thread

• Hook Grip

Carrying a bucket or pulling a suitcase

• Pinch Grip

Holding a coin, flipping it over to view each side

• Lumbrical Grip

Holding a plate or tray flat on your hand

• Tip-to-Tip Grip

Picking up small items like crumbs, coins, or pins

• Spherical Grip

Opening and closing jars

Products to Help you Complete Tasks that Require Grip

We are happy that you are taking the time to read this blog to gather some helpful information on grip strength and how it can improve your life in daily tasks. We thought we would round up some products that can benefit those who need to improve grip strength.

Tenura Cutlery Grips

Cutlery handles are thin and can be tricky to grasp if you lack grip strength or dexterity in your hands. So, sliding on Tenura cutlery grips on utensils increases handle size, allowing you to grasp a more comfortable wider handle. You can use Tenura cutlery grips to improve your grip on many items around the home, including toothbrushes, hair combs, pens, and pencils. This means you can now brush your teeth and hair with comfort as well as write and draw.

Tenura Jar Openers and Bottle Openers

These two products can help in a myriad of ways, from the primary function of opening bottles and jars to helping you twist taps on and off and getting a good grip on smooth door and cupboard knobs. Tenura jar and bottle openers help with tasks that require your spherical grip.

Tenura Grip Strips

Similarly to cutlery grips, you can wrap grip strips around handles to improve your grasp on the object. The soft silicone is grip-enhancing, allowing you to get a proper hold of the item and reduce the risk of it slipping out of your hands.

You can use the grip strips on the items listed under cutlery grips, but you can also wrap the silicone around handles that wouldn't fit into cutlery grips. For example, you can wrap the silicone around the handles of walking aids like canes or rollators to improve your grip on the handle. You can wrap silicone strips around knives to ensure you have a safe and secure grip. When completing DIY tasks around the house, you may reach for a hammer or screwdriver, and these can be enhanced with the use of Tenura grip strips.

Tenura Grip Rolls

When carrying a briefcase, bucket, or object by its handle, you use the hook grip. To make the grip more comfortable, wrap soft silicone around the handle, building up more of the silicone by wrapping it around a further few times to create a bigger handle and improve your comfort.

Your gardening hobby doesn't need to subside just because you have been experiencing dexterity or grip strength issues. You can wrap grip roll around your watering can, trowel, or garden rake handles.

 

Why is Grip Strength Important?

You use the lateral pinch to unlock your home or a cupboard with a key. When playing sports like netball or basketball, you use a lumbrical grip. The types of grip we use are dependent on the situation and fall into two main categories, precision, and power. Each grip by design allows you to make a precise action or a powerful movement.

A lack of grip strength can affect many tasks, for example, holding a toothbrush or grasping a knife to cut food. It can impact your ability to lift objects or hold wide bars such as grab rails. You may want to improve your ability to complete these tasks, so below we have detailed a few hand exercise recommendations that you could try. By doing these exercises daily for a short time, you can improve your hand grip and dexterity.

 

Hand Exercises to Improve Grip Strength

There are many exercises you can complete to help maintain your grip. So let's explore a few that are easy to do at home or on the go.

Squeeze a stress ball

This action uses the joints in your hand, flexing them and making them stronger - this movement helps with spherical grip

Pinch the stress ball

To practice and improve more dexterous movement, pinch the stress ball, using the pinch grip

Flex your wrists

Complete small circular motions and then get larger in rotation with each movement. It helps restore your joint mobility whilst also stretching your tendons and other parts of the joint

Thumb Circles

Similar to the above, you make a circling motion with your thumb and fingers, which can improve flexibility. This hand exercise can help you with many grips where the thumb is required, like cylindrical grips and lumbrical grips

Digit Stretch

Stretch your fingers and thumb out, then curl them into a fist, then repeat

 

We hope you have found this blog helpful. Please explore the Tenura products to find ways to improve daily tasks that require grip strength or mobility.

In this blog, we explore the history of Parkinson’s, giving advice surrounding the importance of this awareness month and how you can provide support and get involved. Let's make a difference…

A Brief History of Parkinson’s

The disease was first discovered by James Parkinson, who was an English surgeon. The disease was named after James and his work into its discovery. James Parkinson’s most famous work is Shaking Palsy, which became the foundation for understanding Parkinson’s. His principles were later refined and described by Jean-Martin Charcot and William Gowers. Their efforts helped create treatments and standardize the study.

Thanks to their work, we now have defined characteristics (Parkinsonisms) of Parkinson’s. For example, the loss of facial movements and reduced eye motion known as Hypomimia, or masked face and facial masking. Hypomimia can start as early as stage one and progress as the condition takes hold. It is a misconception that the first sign of Parkinson’s is a tremor, but difficulty sleeping and smaller than usual handwriting are more common.

Another misconception is that Parkinson’s only affects the older generation, but 137,000 people under the age of 50 have early-onset Parkinson’s, which equates to 0.2% of the population.

Their work shaped the specialist roles of healthcare staff that help those with Parkinson’s, which include:

1. Physiotherapist
2. Movement Disorder Specialist
3. Occupational Therapist

Each of these key positions will help in different aspects of the person’s life, focusing on rehabilitation and support.

Ways to Support Your Loved One With Parkinson’s

Educate Yourself and Teach Others

It’s essential to have a good understanding of the topic, allowing you to help those in your community or family who have the disease. You can be more considerate and provide better support when knowledgeable. 2021’s theme of Parkinson’s Awareness Day stressed the importance of #KnowMorePD.

Reach Out to Someone with Parkinson’s

Certain individuals with Parkinson’s can become closed off, so reaching out and checking up with them is crucial for their mental health.

Participate in Charity Events and Fundraising

Up and down the UK, there are many events held year-round that you can participate in to help spread information and raise awareness and money for this important cause. There are many fun ways to get involved, catering to various interests, from walks and runs to bake sales and coffee mornings.

Share Information and Resources Around PD

2018’s theme for Parkinson’s Awareness Day, Start a Conversation, asked people to get involved in the observance day by spreading knowledge and information about the topic to inspire others to get involved. Speak to the community, your family, friends, neighbors, local businesses, and healthcare teams.

Getting Tips On Parkinson’s Treatments

Parkinson’s Foundation 2019 theme stated that awareness is the ‘Key2PD’. They asked the community to share helpful tips to help those living with the disease. Knowing how others are coping independently with struggles associated with the disease can improve welfare. This information can help healthcare providers see trends in treatments. Make sure to go on social media and see the tweeted tips under the #Key2PD hashtag.

Create Plans to Prepare for Parkinson’s Challenges

This plan is to help improve mindset and mental health, so plan items into the day that will inspire you, such as a walk or a phone call with a friend. If there are certain tasks around the home you need some help with, stick them on the calendar and see if friends or a professional could provide the help required. There’s no need to put off the task fully. Mark it on your calendar and plan for it, which helps to minimize stress. 2020’s theme, #Plan4PD, inspired this tip.

Find Products that Can Alleviate Issues

At Tenura, we have many helpful products for those with Parkinson’s. We listed some of the most common symptoms and some products that can provide help:

Tremors are uncontrollable shakes, often in the hands and fingers, making opening containers tricky. Having a silicone jar or bottle opener can make opening bottles and jars easier as well as providing a good grip on other objects like taps or doorknobs.

Impaired posture and balance can increase the risk of slips around the home. Placing a Tenura non-slip floor mat in areas where additional grip is required, such as a foothold near a sofa or at the side of a bed, can help reduce this risk.

Writing style changes, and with Parkinson’s, it often gets smaller due to more limited hand movements and the difficulty and pain of holding a thin pen or pencil. By increasing the width of the pen with a Tenura cutlery grip, you can make writing a more comfortable task for a person with Parkinson’s.

If you want to get involved in this year’s Parkinson’s Awareness Day, use the following hashtags:

• #UniteF­or­Par­kinsons
• #KnowMorePD
• #Parkin­son­sA­ware­nes­sMonth
• #Parkin­son­sA­wareness
• #Together4PD

You can also get a 10% discount on the Tenura range, including the products above.

The discount code is: PAM10, and will be valid for one month.

Winter Paralympics 2022, are you ready?

This quadrennial event is ready to take place in Beijing this year. It will commence on Friday the 4th to the 13th of March. Channel 4 is where you can tune in to watch the games.

Some Interesting Facts about the Paralympics

The Winter Paralympics debuted in Sweden in 1976, 16 years after the Summer Paralympics started and 80 years after the first modern Olympic games were held.

The United States has the most Paralympic medals to its name, 2,598, of which 919 are gold. The country that has won the most Winter Paralympic medals is Austria, and they’ve won a total of 332 medals, of which 104 were gold.

The mascot for the Winter Paralympic games is a cartoon version of a Chinese lantern, and the design encompasses traditional Chinese paper cutting and Ruyi ornaments. The name of this mascot is Shuey (snow), Rhon (to include, to tolerate), Rhon (to melt, to fuse), 雪容融. The design of the character and name promotes inclusion with the aim of increasing communication between world cultures and the inclusion of people with disabilities.

There are Six Terms to Segment the Athletes:

The classification within the Paralympics can help keep the competition fair and safe as sports can be dangerous. The six segments are as follows:

• Amputee
• Cerebral Palsy
• Intellectual Disability
• Wheelchair
• Vision Impaired
• Others

There are Six Winter Paralympic Sports

Most Winter Paralympic sports are broken down by disability into two main categories; vision impairments and physical impairments.

The Olympics have 15 winter sports, and the Paralympics have 6, and these sports are divided into 2 categories, snow sports, and ice sports. Ice sports are played in mixed teams, meaning both men and women compete simultaneously.

Snow Sports

Ice Sports

• Alpine Skiing (Slalom & Giant Slalom)
• Para Ice Hockey
• Cross-Country Skiing
• Wheelchair Curling
• Biathlon (Cross-Country Skiing & Target Practice)
• Snowboarding

The latest of these winter paralympic sports to be sanctioned by the IPC is Snowboarding, first introduced at the Sochi Paralympic Winter Games 2014.

In the UK, there are over 50 ice rinks, of which many offer disability assistance to help those with disabilities learn and take up the sport. The UK is certainly making an effort to make snow sports accessible, and it’s thanks to trainers getting additional training to support those with disabilities and the advancements in technology and adaptive equipment.

The Paralympics gets praise for its inclusivity, and rightly so; however, disabled women have only recently been allowed to compete in Para Ice Hockey (2010).

Let’s Explore Some of the Adaptations to these Sports

Sports can be dangerous and challenging, so having adapted equipment to ensure that you are safe and perform at peak performance leads to success. There are many ways to make sports accessible. We are taking a look at how you can adapt preexisting equipment and accessories to make sports more accessible to persons with disabilities.

How to Make Sports More Accessible with Tenura Products

Let’s look at ways Tenura products can help disabled people participate in sports and adapt their equipment for better results and comfort.

Taking On And Off Your Snow Boots

For many snow sports, you will require snow boots, and they can be tricky to take on and off, so we suggest you use a Tenura non-slip floor mat to help. Place the snow boot onto the floor mat to keep it in place whilst you put on the boots. Floor mats help with mobility and increased grip.

Drying Out Your Equipment

Snow melts and causes wet puddles, but thanks to the lattice structure of Tenura non-slip fabric, your equipment will be able to dry out above the water. You can place your boots or skis upon the fabric to help dry and air them out.

CupCaps to Prevent Spillages

If you have had plenty of practice at your snow sport, you may be able to take a drink on the go, and we suggest you use a Tenura CupCap to ensure your drinks container is spillproof.

Adapting your equipment to be more disability-friendly can help when it comes to participating and taking up hobbies in sports. If you have any more ideas, you would like to share. You can do so via our socials (Facebook and Twitter).

Some companies are taking up the Purple Tuesday initiative to make their company values align with the disabled community. This blog will outline how you can get involved and what Tenura is doing to ensure we provide inclusive customer service.

So, What’s Purple Tuesday All About

Fourteen million people in the UK live with a disability, equating to roughly 22% of the population. With that many people classified as having some form of disability, you’d think we would have better infrastructure as a nation to cope with the challenges the disabled community face.

We are excited to be taking part this year and joining in with over 5,000 organizations, pledging towards the Purple Tuesday campaign. Each organization reflects inward to evaluate their customer service to make it a better experience for the disabled.

How Technology and Companies can Help

As technology and our understanding of disabilities continues to grow, the future for inclusivity is bright, which is precisely what Purple Tuesday is all about.

The technology push towards a more accessible customer experience is essential. It can start with ideas such as website accessibility, voice recognition devices, and providing different channels disabled customers can access your services. Companies coming up with technology advancements in the name of disability inclusion are fantastic, as all these changes can vastly improve a disabled person’s experience with your company.

Companies can make changes offline too, which includes; training staff helping them to communicate with disabled people, installing wheelchair ramps, and creating clear signage.

If you are a company that wants to join in on the Purple Tuesday campaign, you can via their website, you need to register, then pledge a commitment that will benefit disabled people using your company. Put your ideas into action and deliver on your goals, so you can celebrate your achievements when it comes to 2nd November.

How You Can Help

Those of you speaking out on social media, informing others about businesses stepping in the right direction, and making those positive-discrimination steps is impactful. Helping companies recognize ways they can improve accessibility helps create the market pull, pulling companies in line with the values of the disabled community and beyond.

You can use the following hashtags to join in on the conversation:

• #PT2021
• #Purple­Tu­es­da­y2021
• #Disabi­lity­In­clu­sion
• #Acces­sibi­lity­ForAll

Tenura’s Pledge to Purple Tuesday

We aim to provide a better user experience for disabled people using the Tenura website. We want to be inclusive, and with products aimed at those who are disabled, it seems like a step in the right direction.

One step we have taken to reach our goal of a more inclusive website is a website audit. The website audit picks up areas where we can make our website accessible. We will be implementing these ideas in the coming years, as we have big plans, ranging from image naming formulas that aid those using screen readers to releasing a guide on website accessibility in the form of a blog. We started our strategy last year and have been making small manageable steps towards our goal ever since. As I am sure you appreciate, these adaptations take both time and money.

To further help us towards our website accessibility goal, please send an email informing us of any website accessibility techniques you feel we could implement.

We want to show our appreciation to the community pledging towards a better future by offering you a 10% discount on all Tenura products via our website. Use the discount code PURPLETUES10 at checkout to redeem. 

This promotion is running from 26/10/21 to 16/11/21.

We don’t want anyone left out of Halloween celebrations, so we are continually developing new innovative ways to make Halloween accessible for all. Read on to get some great ideas and find products that can help bring the experience to life.

Some simple swaps can make Halloween more accessible.

Swap Face Masks for Face Paint

Instead of using masks as a part of the fancy dress experience, use face paint.

For visually impaired children, masks can hinder their sight, and for children who rely on lip-reading, masks can obstruct a person’s mouth. Children with autism sometimes have sensory sensitivities, and masks could be too intensely stimulating.

The best alternative is face paint, as you can adapt the design to be more inclusive and suitable for various conditions and disabilities.

Trick or Treating

If you plan on venturing outside, make sure you have the relevant mobility aids for children, making the experience as comfortable as possible.

Youngsters who use a wheelchair and need help maneuvering in and out of it can use non-slip floor mats. Floor mats can give the child the support and grip required to maneuver into their wheelchair. Whilst out and about, feet don’t always stay on the wheelchair footrest, but having grip roll that’s stuck to the footplate prevents feet from slipping off, avoiding injury and maintaining comfort.

A trial run of the trick or treat route you will take, completed a day before, can help reassure children.

Adults and children alike can have allergies. One of the most common is a nut allergy, so make sure you stock a variety of treats that all children can enjoy, which avoids children feeling left out and prevents them from consuming foods that cause an allergic reaction.

Sometimes drinks are given out as all the candy has run out, or the child requires a drink at the end of trick or treating. Either way, you may need a bottle opener. At Tenura, we have a grip-enhancing bottle opener that helps you open bottles with more comfort and grip.

Rather than going outside and trick or treating, you can hide the treats around the house as a treasure hunt. You can place them in areas you know are manageable for children at the party.

Prevent Spillages

Some children have trouble with their hand-eye coordination. But placing sweet bowls and drinks on anti-slip table mats and drinks coasters can prevent spillages. They are brightly colored, so easy to see. Tenura mats are also easy to wipe down and protect furniture from stains.

It may be a good idea to take a drink out with you whilst you trick or treat, and a Tenura silicone CupCap drinks cover can make any drinks container spill-proof.

Pumpkin Carving

Carving pumpkins is a staple of Halloween, but it can be dangerous. By sliding Tenura children’s cutlery grips onto the carving knife, the child’s grip is maintained on the knife’s handle, making the knife less likely to slip out of their hand. Children’s cutlery grips make handles larger and easier to hold. Some children have difficulty grasping thin handles, so this is a perfect way to make pumpkin carving accessible.

To prevent the pumpkin from moving whilst you carve, you can place it on a Tenura anti-slip table mat.

If your child cannot participate in pumpkin carving, consider sticking items such as colorful pom-poms, fluffy pipe cleaners, and googly eyes to the pumpkin instead, which significantly reduces any risks involved.

Mark Your Home

Let others know that people in the home have conditions that require patience and understanding. You can do this by placing a sign visible to those coming up your driveway. Parents can read the sign and educate their children before approaching the door.

We hope these tips and tricks have given you some inspiration to make Halloween more accessible for various disabilities. If you have any other ideas you would like to share, let us know via our social media channels (Facebook and Twitter).

Happy Halloween!

 

In this blog, we explore the importance of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and what they are. It's essential to get a clear understanding so you can better care for a patient or family member. Plus, we have rounded up some brilliant products that promote independent living by making ADLs manageable.

What does ADL stand for?

ADL stands for Activities of Daily Living, which comprises of five basic tasks required to live an independent and healthy life. Members of the population who have recently received surgery or have disabilities/a condition, such as arthritis, can struggle to complete daily tasks. They are accessed individually, allowing carers to detect areas where the client needs additional help.

What are the 5 ADLs?

1. Personal Hygiene

A person must be able to keep a suitable level of hygiene to meet the standards of ADLs. A person may not meet their needs due to a disability. Some wheelchair users may struggle due to limited mobility, making tasks such as bathing tricky.

Another reason could be the side effects of the medication, causing depression. People with depression tend to disregard bathing. Those with depression usually have decreased energy levels, making bathing an overwhelming or neglected aspect of their life.

Personal hygiene extends beyond just bathing and encompasses brushing your teeth and hair, looking after your nails, feet, scalp, oral hygiene, and ear organ hygiene. There are many areas of our body we need to care for to make sure we stay healthy. Personal hygiene can help prevent the spread of diseases, so it's essential.

Not brushing your teeth can lead to bad breath, toothache, the loss of teeth, and even gum cancer.

There are products on the market that can aid with specific issues a person may encounter during these tasks. At Tenura, we have developed cutlery grips, an adaptive aid you slip cutlery or utensils like toothbrushes, combs, and other hygiene-related products into, to increase the handle's width. Thin handles can prevent those with limited dexterity in their hands from having proper control. The silicone structure of the cutlery grips is grip-enhancive.

1. Dressing

From selecting clothes to putting them on, this task requires a variety of movement types. Lifting your arms and putting them through your shirt sleeves involves large mobility movements, whereas buttoning the shirt requires more finicky actions. For people with conditions such as arthritis, the maneuverability of limbs and hands is limited, making putting clothes on tricky. There are so many dressing aids to help with the different aspects of getting dressed.

Getting dressed shouldn't be a painful experience, and we realized that many of these dressing aids have thin metal handles, making them tricky to hold for those with limited mobility in their hands. But we have a solution. By cutting Tenura grip roll into strips and building up a thicker handle, you can make dressing aids more comfortable to grasp. Tenura grip roll is made from our grip-enhancing silicone, so your hands will not slide off the handle like they would with the use of the metal handle alone.

Being unable to change clothes or get undressed can affect other activities of daily living. Remaining in the same clothes for days would lead to poor personal hygiene and allow germs to breed, which could cause illness. Another affected daily living activity would be continence due to the inability to unbutton your trousers to use the toilet.

1. Eating

Children are a great example of the stages a person may be at when eating. Babies need complete assistance during the task, whereas toddlers have developed partial fine motor skills to hold cutlery and complete the actions required to transport the food from their plate to their mouth. Following this, at 5/6 years old, they can fully feed themselves. You need to evaluate your child's capabilities just as you do with persons in your care. Some people will require full assistance during meal times, whereas those who have some fine motor skills and the coordination necessary to move the food from the plate to their mouth may benefit from the use of adaptive products.

You can add Tenura cutlery grips to the handles of your eating utensils, such as your knife or fork, to increase the handle's width, making using cutlery comfortable as the utensils are easier to hold. They also are made from 100% silicone which gives them grip-enhancing properties, stopping the cutlery from sliding out of your grasp. We have children's cutlery grips for smaller hands.

Getting the right foods is essential to health. The body needs the correct nutrients to work effectively and fight off infection. Food also gives the body energy to complete other daily living activities.

1. Continence

Being able to go to the toilet and control your bowels is another essential daily task. A person may not be capable of controlling their bladder or can't physically move to the bathroom. Understanding the root problem can allow you to put things in place to help the individual.

Bathroom floors tend to be shiny and smooth, making getting on and off the toilet tricky as you can't get a foothold, but we have come up with clever ideas to help those struggling to use the toilet safely.

If a person struggles to get up from the toilet, the use of grab rails can be helpful. But you may find them uncomfortable to hold and not as grip-enhancing as you would like. By wrapping Tenura grip strips around the grab rail handle, you can improve both comfort and grip due to the soft yet grip-enhancing properties of the silicone grip strips.

The contour rug you have around your toilet can be made safer using a Tenura non-slip floor mat underneath. Place your Tenura floor mat under your bathroom rugs to add additional non-slip properties making the bathroom rug extra secure whilst keeping the aesthetic of your bathroom. The non-slip properties mean rugs won't slide but instead will provide a reliable surface to maneuver on and off the toilet.

Tenura floor mats have adhesive-like properties that help keep bathroom rugs in place. The floor mat sticks itself to the floor, preventing the rug from moving and allowing the person on the toilet to get a proper foothold without the risk of slips and falls.

If necessary, you can remove the floor mat, and upon removal, no residue will be left behind.

Please note that the Tenura silicone range loses its non-slip properties when wet.

1. Mobility

Moving around, whether that's to go to the kitchen for food, or the bathroom, it's critical to health. A person may find their mobility is compromised following injury, surgery, or a medical condition. A person may have difficulty in certain areas. For some, they may require hoists around the house or live-in care. Others can get by with a simple Tenura non-slip floor mat that gives them grip and increased confidence when completing activities of daily living. Non-slip floor mats provide a foothold for the user, even on slippery floors. You can use them around the house, beside beds or sofas to help you maneuver safely.

It may be worthwhile installing Tenura non-slip bath stickers, which aid a person with mobility in bathrooms or areas frequently exposed to water. You can line a bath or shower's base with Tenura bath stickers. They apply best to smooth surfaces, providing the area is cleaned first with an alcohol-based cleaner (cream-based cleaners leave behind a powder residue that causes the stickers to lift). For more information, please read our application bath stickers blog.

Now you have a basic understanding of the products that can help patients or family members overcome the struggles associated with activities of daily living. We hope this blog has given you ideas to provide further support and find effective products for anyone in your care.

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