An elderly lady that I do odd jobs for has been recommended to have a
safety gate fitted at the top of her stairs (she's in a first floor
flat). Her bedroom door is immediately opposite the top of the stairs
and there's a concern that she might get up in the night and walk out
the bedroom door and forget to turn right or left!

A hinged gate is not really suitable - a bit obstructive when open,
and I think that baby safety gates are too low (she might just tip
over the top). Tried googling but all I get is baby gates.

Any suggestions?

On Sun, 16 Jan 2011 19:12:03 +0000, DavidM
wrote:


Any suggestions?

Try searching on www.remapedia.org.uk we have produced a variety of
such barriers for similar purposes including lifting barriers and
sliding ones. If you don't find anything suitable get in touch and
I'll ask our Panels what they have done recently.


--
Peter Parry
www.remapsherts.org.uk

On Jan 16, 7:12*pm, DavidM wrote:

A hinged gate is not really suitable - a bit obstructive when open,

Try Ikea. They do a wooden one that is screwed to the walls either
side, so doesn't need the usual (trip hazard) bar across the floor.

On Sun, 16 Jan 2011 13:38:56 -0800 (PST), Owain
wrote:

On Jan 16, 7:12*pm, DavidM wrote:
An elderly lady that I do odd jobs for has been recommended to have a
safety gate fitted at the top of her stairs (she's in a first floor
flat). Her bedroom door is immediately opposite the top of the stairs
and there's a concern that she might get up in the night and walk out
the bedroom door and forget to turn right or left!

A hinged gate is not really suitable - a bit obstructive when open,
and I think that baby safety gates are too low (she might just tip
over the top). Tried googling but all I get is baby gates.

Any suggestions?

Social Services sometimes supply these; their Occupational Therapists
could probably suggest a suitable model at least.

That's just what I was about to suggest. They're usually quite helpful
even if you just pick their brains for ideas to "do it yourself".

--
Frank Erskine
Sunderland

"DavidM" wrote in message
...
An elderly lady that I do odd jobs for has been recommended to have a
safety gate fitted at the top of her stairs (she's in a first floor
flat). Her bedroom door is immediately opposite the top of the stairs
and there's a concern that she might get up in the night and walk out
the bedroom door and forget to turn right or left!

A hinged gate is not really suitable - a bit obstructive when open,
and I think that baby safety gates are too low (she might just tip
over the top). Tried googling but all I get is baby gates.

Any suggestions?

I used a folding support rail as used in disabled toilets for my father.
They are far stronger than child safety gates and fold into a small space.
They are not suitable if the user might fall under the rail.

On 16/01/2011 19:12, DavidM wrote:
An elderly lady that I do odd jobs for has been recommended to have a
safety gate fitted at the top of her stairs (she's in a first floor
flat). Her bedroom door is immediately opposite the top of the stairs
and there's a concern that she might get up in the night and walk out
the bedroom door and forget to turn right or left!

Would a PIR attached to the landing light do the trick, so she wouldn't
be in the dark - or is it more a question of confusion and/or poor vision?

David

On Jan 17, 7:44*am, Lobster wrote:
On 16/01/2011 19:12, DavidM wrote:

An elderly lady that I do odd jobs for has been recommended to have a
safety gate fitted at the top of her stairs (she's in a first floor
flat). Her bedroom door is immediately opposite the top of the stairs
and there's a concern that she might get up in the night and walk out
the bedroom door and forget to turn right or left!

Would a PIR attached to the landing light do the trick, so she wouldn't
be in the dark - or is it more a question of confusion and/or poor vision?

David

Thanks all for replies.

It is more a question of confusion/unsteadyness rather than eyesight,
so I think some sort of physical barrier is a better option, but space
is limited as there's also a stair lift chair parked at the top of the
stairs. Some sort of pivoted lifting bar/barrier seems best in terms
of fitting and ease of use, but I'm concious of of the possibilty of
her falling over the top, or under, it.

I'll try DSS and Age UK to see what they say.

David
(using Google as newsgroup seems inaccessible via Virgin Media at
present)

On Mon, 17 Jan 2011 07:45:14 -0800 (PST), DavidM_UK
wrote:

On Jan 17, 7:44*am, Lobster wrote:
On 16/01/2011 19:12, DavidM wrote:

Would a PIR attached to the landing light do the trick, so she wouldn't
be in the dark - or is it more a question of confusion and/or poor vision?

PIR turning on a landing light can easily make matters worse. It
tends to disorient elderly frail people as their eyes don't adapt
quickly. If a PIR is used it is often better to switch a low wattage
diffuse light.

It is more a question of confusion/unsteadyness rather than eyesight,
so I think some sort of physical barrier is a better option, but space
is limited as there's also a stair lift chair parked at the top of the
stairs. Some sort of pivoted lifting bar/barrier seems best in terms
of fitting and ease of use, but I'm concious of of the possibilty of
her falling over the top, or under, it.

Have a look at the two pictures attached to
http://www.remap-internet.org.uk/rem...t=stair%20gate

I'll try DSS and Age UK to see what they say.

For a formal solution she will need an assessment by an occupational
therapist. Other than standard stair gates they don't have much. The
DLF database is at http://www.dlf.org.uk/content/living-made-easy.*
but I couldn't find anything useful at a quick look.


--
Peter Parry
www.remapsherts.org.uk

On Jan 17, 5:39 pm, Peter Parry wrote:

Have a look at the two pictures attached tohttp://www.remap-internet.org.uk/remapedia/tiki-index.php?page=Stair+...

no pics visible??

Jim K

In article , jk989898
@gmail.com says...

On Jan 17, 5:39 pm, Peter Parry wrote:

Have a look at the two pictures attached tohttp://www.remap-internet.org.uk/remapedia/tiki-index.php?page=Stair+...

no pics visible??


Scroll down to the bottom and you find the links to both pictures ...
--

Terry