We all know about “Activities of Daily Living” or, if we didn’t before Parkinson’s entered our lives, we certainly do now. It’s the bathing, dressing, toileting, eating, all those things we do by ourselves that we take for granted until tremors, stiffness and cognitive decline take them away from us. I am speaking figuratively of course because my ADLs are still pretty good, it’s my husband who is struggling thanks to his diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease. In my mission to make our lives easier, I did some research and found a few good tips that I am planning to incorporate into our daily schedule.

Some things I came across were things we have already done. We installed grab bars in the shower and around the toilet and added a raised toilet seat in one bath. We put a bidet style toilet seat in the master bathroom to help with personal hygiene. All have been great helps for us both, I use the grab bars and the bidet as much as he does and wonder why we waited so long to install them. And it’s not just in the bathroom, having utensils that he can manage when eating makes a difference on how I prepare food and clean-up after. Forks are tough and can lead to spills, simply switching to a soup spoon has cut down on spills and made mealtimes so much less stressful for us both.

Dressing is challenging for my husband and the tips included finding clothes that work, for us that means loose fitting sweatshirts or t-shirts and blue jeans. I keep all but the top two buttons buttoned on his dress shirts so he can pull them on over his head, an easy modification that allows him to do most of it himself. We haven’t found a good solution for socks but that gives me an excuse to check his feet regularly before putting on his shoes. We have found 2 different styles of shoes that go on easier and don’t need to be tied plus he has a pair of loafers he can slip on and off by himself. 

The most important thing is that the aids we incorporate to help my husband complete his activities should be things that make my life easier too. If the aid/modification/adaptation makes the task more difficult or is something he just can’t or won’t use, then it’s probably not a good fit. I want to make our lives less, not more, stressful and that means finding the right tools and encouraging him to implement them as needed which helps free me up so I can take care of my own ADLs.

For more practical tips on making it day to day, check out Activities of Daily Living | Parkinson’s Foundation or Tips for Maintaining Personal Hygiene with Parkinson’s (parkinsonsdisease.net).