Wheelchair Needs For Caregivers: Inches and Ramps

My dad developed Parkinson’s Disease in the mid-1980s. He dealt wonderfully with it. He stayed active, playing golf and walking every single day. He was able to live a relatively normal life for over a decade. Eventually they moved to a house close to me the same year my first grandchild arrived. That was my introduction to the Sandwich Generation .

A few years later his Parkinson’s had progressed considerably and we decided together that it was time for them to move in with me. We knew it would make it easier for mom and me as joint caregivers . It also gave my dad great peace of mind! When I bought my new house a couple years prior to this, I made sure it was easily accessible with no stairs, higher toilet seats, and hand rails in both bathrooms. Shortly after they moved in, my dad had to give up his beloved rolling walker for a wheelchair and I discovered some things I hadn’t thought of. Inches and ramps! Inches as in, “how many inches in my doorways?” “How many inches in the turning radius of a hallway?” “How many inches wide were the sidewalks and walkways?” I totally panicked, then breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that everything was wide enough for his new wheelchair !

Ramps were a bit trickier. I didn’t have any clue where to buy them, what kind to get, or how long I would need them for. Since my house was a single story with no major steps, just a threshold in front and one step down in back, we decided to go with threshold ramps . I was able to find a store three cities away and bought two different kinds. They screwed into the threshold and really did work quite well for us. In doing some research, I discovered several new articles out there that I wish I’d had five years ago. One thing I would suggest, that I didn’t think to do then. Ask your doctor/insurance company if the ramps (or any other necessary equipment) are covered by insurance. I didn’t learn to do that until after we bought the walker AND one wheelchair! Fortunately, we really loved that wheelchair as it was very light weight. It was perfect for travel. I’ll be writing more about that in a later post. In the meantime, here are some links you may find useful if you need wheelchair ramps for your aging parents:

• New Disability
• Discount Ramps – threshold ramps - They have a wide variety of ramps, in addition to these threshold ramps
• Handi Ramp
• Lite Ramp

Tagged as: aging parents, caregiver, caregiving, Eldercare, elderly, elderly parents, ramps, Sandwich Generation, senior citizens, senior home care, walkers, wheelchair, wheelchair ramps, wheelchairs