Mrs T was struggling to get to and from her bedroom. Her joints were bad and she needed help. Her daughter suggested she call Adult Social Care, and they put her in touch with an occupational therapist (OT).

When the OT visited her at home they chatted about what might help. They both agreed that adding a rail to her stairs would help in the short-term. But Mrs T was finding it harder to get upstairs. They needed to think about what would help long-term.

An Occupational Therapy Major Adaptation Report (OTMAR) takes long-term needs into consideration. It looks at current health conditions and lays out what might happen in the future. In Mrs T's case, her OT knew that she wouldn't be able to use the stairs for much longer. They suggested a stairlift.

At first, Mrs T was doubtful. Her cottage was old and the stairway very steep and narrow. All the stairlifts she'd seen were big. Not only that, she wasn't sure she could afford to pay for one. Besides, her joint problems meant that she found it hard to push buttons.

Her OT was able to set her mind at rest. They suggested a custom stairlift with special controls. After filling out a financial assessment, Mrs T found she was able to get a Disabled Facilities Grant to pay for it.

Custom stairlifts like this can take time to make, in this case, it took a few months.

Three months later, Mrs T is delighted with her new stairlift. She can now get up and downstairs with ease.