Friday, January 29, 2016

By John Voket In the search to help both disabled homeowners and adults aging in place, I went shopping for resources and products to help alleviate the burden of house cleaning. And we hit a goldmine in abledata.com's guide "AT (Assistive Technologies) for Housekeeping."

This free guide recommends several housekeeping products that can help ease the task of cleaning floors, scrubbing tiles, and washing clothes for those with reduced shoulder or arm movement, limited reaching capabilities, mobility or upper extremity disabilities, or who have difficulty bending.

For the bathroom, Abledata.com singles out the Flex Neck Tub-n-Tile Scrubber with its telescopic pole that can extend from 33 to 55 inches, and a scrubbing head with flexible neck for scouring curves and corners.
The Twist and Shout Mop™ is another high ranking AT product. Its self-wringing spin mop is helpful for those with reduced arm or shoulder movement, limited reaching capabilities, or difficulty bending.

To ease laundry chores, scope out the MiracleFold™ - a laundry folding aid designed for those with upper extremity disabilities or the use of only one hand. This device helps fold shirts, sweaters, pants, and even towels with just a few flips.

According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), approximately 2.7 million domestic robots (i.e., vacuum and floor cleaning, lawn-mowing, and entertainment and leisure robots) were sold in 2013, with nearly 23.9 million units projected to be in use by 2017.

Abledata.com's guide gives top marks to three units that could help make life much easier for those aging in place:

• The Ideaworks Robo Sweeper™ is an automatic, cordless electric floor sweeper that does not require you to empty any bins or change any filters.
• The iRobot Roomba® 780 vacuum cleaning robot along with the iRobot Virtual Wall® Lighthouse™ uses infrared signals to contain your Roomba 780 in one room until it is completely vacuumed, directs it to the next room, and prevents it from entering off-limit areas.
• The the iRobot Scooba® 450  - a multi-functional device not only scrubs, but also sweeps, presoaks, and wipes down floors.

AbleData is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) and operated by New Editions Consulting, Inc.

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