QA Forum

Question & Answer

We are discussing The Self Management of Arthritis
With Graeme Rossiter, Elizabeth Scrivener and Sally Ranford

Question:
Hi, I have the beginnings of osteoarthritis and I would like to know what are the main changes that I can make to my home to help? I would still like to be able to do the things that I enjoy in the kitchen and garden- where do I start? any suggestions would be appreciated.

Answer:
Sally - Thank you for your question - it is a great question and one that indicates a pro-active approach to managing an emerging condition.

Although you don't indicate which joints are showing signs of osteoarthritis I hope that my response provides an approach that will enable you to examine all the possibilities within and around your home. Whilst I'm sure other portal members could come up with their own exhaustive list of challenges, we commonly find that people start to have difficulty with the following movements - eg reaching (up high, down low), moving from standing into sitting and especially from sitting up to standing, bending/kneeling, gripping tools and utensils, sleeping comfort..

It would be a good exercise to start mapping out the difficulties you are currently experiencing and think about how these might impact upon the activities you have to do every day and/or those activities you do for enjoyment and leisure.

As an example - current difficulty might be hip pain and restricted movement - this impacts upon your ability to move into/out of sitting, might interfere with your ability to get down to ground level for gardening, might make getting in/out of bed an effort, might make getting in/out of the bath a challenge.

Having identified the challenges have a think about the changes/modifications you can put into place to reduce the difficulties, to reduce the risks. Some people might like to tackle the big things first - how can I stay in this house with its stairs and steep gradient and then work their way down to the day to day details - eg meal preparation whilst others may prefer to start at the micro level - i.e. what is affecting me today and how will I make it to the shops, prepare the meals and do the washing before even daring to think about the bigger picture-that of course is up to you.

I am starting at the centre of the circle - the micro/day to day level and this could mean a review of current seating within the home.. do you have at least one chair that is comfortable to sit in and which is at a height that enables you to move in/out comfortably? If not contact the ILC in your State/Territory for advice on options for modifying your existing chair or replacing it.

Having dealt with the sitting challenge, move onto the next issue you have identified.. e.g getting down to ground level and back up again for gardening.... there are a range of kneeling stools available with hand grips to help stabilise you from standing to kneeling, you could also look at developing some raised garden beds, you could look at long handled tools that limit the need to work at ground level, you could identify the time of day that you have most comfort and movement and take on the challenging activities at that time.

In terms of the kitchen.. are there activities you can do seated at the table rather than standing at the bench, have you come up with a list of activities that are problematic-eg opening jars, cans and bottles, chopping food,etc...make a list and then see what changes you can come up with. Contact the ILC in your State/Territory and ask about options for those activities you haven't been able to come up with a solution for.

As an overall strategy you can take the lead in managing your osteoarthritis by identifying how the condition is affecting you now and how you think it might make its presence known in the future. Map out the difficulties, identify the activities that are impacted by these, brainstorm alternate ways of performing the tasks and where you are unable to come up with an outcome that suits you make use of the many resources available, eg Arthritis Australia, Self-Management courses, Independent Living Centres (www.ilcaustralia.org), health professionals such as occupational therapists, physiotherapists and podiatrists to name but a few.

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