Big sports fan achieves a bigger goal

Situation

Kevin, 51, is married with two children and has Multiple Sclerosis. He has difficulty managing fatigue, and his energy depletes as the day progresses, becoming worse in the evenings.

Due to this fatigue, controlling lights and remotes for the TV, fan and air conditioning was becoming increasingly difficult at night. Kevin reported that he could barely lift his arm to turn off the switches, which meant he would have to call out to his family to assist.

Kevin loves watching any kind of sports and would often stay up late to catch whatever was on TV. And, because of his inability to turn them off late at night, the TV, lights, and other appliances would either be left on, or family members were woken from bed to switch them off for him. Understandably, this made Kevin think twice before staying up alone as he didn’t want to constantly disturb his family. But this meant that he often missed out on watching his favourite sports.

Kevin contacted Stretchy Tech with the goal of automating these parts of his home, to give him control and independence. He wanted the freedom to watch TV and operate lights without having to rely on or disturb others.

Solution

A home visit by our occupational therapist identified that automation would significantly improve Kevin’s independence on days when fatigue would impact his ability to control his environment.

Following this, our technicians recommended a range of solutions to help Kevin achieve his goal of independence. Our first recommendation was to install smart bulbs throughout most of the home, to provide Kevin with independent control of the lights he used most.

Secondly, we recommended installing an app-controlled infrared device, which would enable remote control of the TV and air conditioner.

Our final recommendation was a smart ceiling fan, which could be controlled via an app.

Kevin reported good control over his iPhone which meant that all the automation could be controlled through his phone.

Outcome

Our work with Kevin isn’t quite complete, but our expectation is that he will regain independence in his home. And importantly, by reducing his need to rely on his family, our solution will enable Kevin’s familial relationships to be focused on quality time together, rather than caregiving and support.