Parkinson's Disease... bathroom alterations?

Fruitloops

My mother has Parkinson's Disease and really needs the bathroom altered to make things easier for her. At the moment it has a shower over the bath which she has to climb into and she's already has a few falls, but thankfully not in the bath yet.

Does anybody know if she is entitled to any kind of help towards having the bathroom adjusted? Or where I can look to find out?

Thank you.

pinkmouse

Get in touch with Social Services and ask to be referred to a community OT (at least that's how it works where I live). They can help you out with aids and stuff but also see about alterations if that's what you really need.

A word of caution though - you might have to wait for a while both to see the OT and if there is any work that needs to be done.

Hope this helps

munchings-n-crunchings

What you'll be looking at is a DFG- Disabled Facilities Grant.
These are funded by your local council.

The route as pink mouse has said, is by contacting you local social services department, and asking for an OT assessment.

The OT has a duty to recommend to most cost effective solution to the problems, so you may not get the funding for what you may ideally like.

There is normally a long wait for any assessment, and then depending on recommendation, for funds to be available.

I'm sure it will be the same across all councils, that this type of budget will be affected by reduced funds.

Regards

Munchie

Fruitloops

Many thanks for the advice pinkmouse and munchings I'll look into that, much appreciated!

daska

OTs and equipment do appear to vary across the country. Where I am there was no chance of a bathroom adaptation because I live in rented accommodation and bathlifts are only LENT to people who are waiting for work to be done.

If your mum is able to climb into the bath, albeit at risk of falling, then in my area all she'd get would be handrails (subject to permission being given by the LL - this was refused in one property I lived in) and a bathboard. If she can't lift her legs over the edge of the bath then she would get a dog lead type leg lifter.

Given that hot water was the only pain relief available to me I felt it somewhat harsh that my OT wouldn't even help me identify an appropriate bathlift for me to purchase!

Thankfully my current LL was happy for handrails etc to be installed so I did purchase a bathlift for myself (following advice on this forum). I have a Mangar Bath Cushion which is fabulous. (Horrendous price new but I found a second hand one for £50)

Fruitloops

Thanks also to skcollobcat and daska. I will mention those options to my mother and we will go from there.

Mojisola

skcollobcat10 wrote: »

If she owns her own home and is not on benefits it is a lot harder to get grants for adaptations to bathrooms.

If she is in council accommodation and is on benefits then there should be no problem for her.

If she is on the right benefits, she will be entitled to the grant. It's irrelevant whether you own your own home.

daska

Mojisola wrote: »

If she is on the right benefits, she will be entitled to the grant. It's irrelevant whether you own your own home.

Where I am it's not irrelevant, they will not do adaptations in rented accommodation.

Mojisola

daska wrote: »

Where I am it's not irrelevant, they will not do adaptations in rented accommodation.

I was referring to skcollobcat10's point that if you own your own home you will have problems getting alterations done.

If you own your home and are on the relevant means-tested benefits, you can get adaptions done. The fact you are a house owner does not eliminate you from the process. I think it's quite reasonable that you would have to pay back the grant money spent on the alterations if you sell up within a set time because the work will have added value to your property.

You can see why adaptions can't be done in rented accomodation because you could be given notice to leave at any time.

Mojisola

skcollobcat10 wrote: »

Everything has had to be paid by my partner and dla care is not that much when you have to pay an hourly rate to outside carers. The only thing I have had help with from the SS was a chairlift, they paid half of, then they would not give me a toilet downstairs and offered me a portaloo in the living room. I have a 7 bedroom house and they would not put a level access shower in for me even if I paid half of it, they wanted to put it on the ground floor even though all bedrooms are upstairs, the area was unsuitable for plumbing and would have needed a saniflow system (not proper plumbing) and the space was too narrow for me to turn in my wheelchair.

So as you can see, I am not too impressed by the SS and all I can say to you is if you have a working partner and own your own home, they really are not interested in helping you.

If you have a working partner and are not on means-tested benefits, most grants are not available to you.

Have you thought about selling and downsizing to a more suitable property?

snookey

Hi we have just had a wet room installed via a grant from the council. We own our own home and had to sighn a clause to pay back the first five thousend if we move before ten years. In saying that there are exceptions, if we have to move due to work /family then we dont have to pay back. Also if it would cause financial hardship you dont pay back.
The process was a long one but only because the original ot reatired and the case was misplaced. It was over a year but from start to finish the work to fit the bathroom was less than two weeks. We are now waiting for the lift on the stairs which should take a day as the radiator is being refitted also.
We also used a third party to oversea the work which was paid for via the grant.