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Impairment becomes handicap when account is made of the environment in which the handicapped person exists. In this survey of arthritics and others in a northern industrial city it was found that many extrinsic factors were hostile to their maintenance of independence in personal hygiene. Houses were unmodified, toilets and bathrooms were almost universally small, without structural alterations. Aids and adaptations were safe and appreciated but usually arrived many weeks after the patient was discharged home. Few patients received instruction in the use of aids prescribed or had the opportunity of seeing a range of equipment. Recommendations for an improved service are made.
Chamberlain et al. (Sun,) studied this question.