Many of us are familiar with the concept of universal design (UD), namely, making environments and products universally accessible, so that everyone, regardless of age, size, ability, or disability, can use them. Some common examples of universal design include installing both stairs and a ramp at building entrances, and using lever handles on doors (instead of doorknobs) to make entry possible for more people.
I recently discovered a concept similar to universal design called human-centered design (HCD), and it’s an approach that feels especially relevant to living with
multiple sclerosis (MS).
HCD uses problem-solving and a person’s own experience to design solutions for the specific user, which could be an individual or group of individuals.
I got to thinking about human-centered design after falling twice in two weeks.
My Falls Follow a Typical Pattern, Based on My MS Symptoms
The other night I was in my kitchen and had just finished dinner when I stood up to do the dishes, which is my usual nightly routine. Then my worst nightmare unfolded in front of me: I slid my arm across the sink thinking I would reach the other side, but instead the arm slipped, causing me to lose my grip and balance. Had a friend not been there to break my fall, I would have fallen face-first onto the floor.
As usual I made every excuse in the book for what happened, including the wet surface that caused my arm to slip. But the next day I began thinking about UD and what type of design would have helped to prevent my fall. I concluded that no universal design feature would have stopped my fall, because this mishap was caused by personal factors related to my multiple sclerosis.
I broke the scenario down several times in my head: The weak arm slipped, my nonfunctional leg with foot drop could not respond to help regain my balance, and as a result of a “half-functional” body, the nonfunctional half became dead weight.
This establishes a working template for many of my falls.
The same episode happened two weeks earlier, when I slid my arm across the open trunk of my car. My arm then slipped, the nonfunctional leg could not respond, and the result was a fall onto the driveway. You get the picture. I don’t think any UD principles would have prevented the driveway fall either.
I Need a Personalized Solution to Prevent My Falls
Given this scenario, I thought long and hard as to how these situations could have been avoided using principals about my person, not people generally.
I was now starting to see patterns and common elements in both falls. I had to center on myself and come up with smart strategies that focus on my personal movements and vulnerabilities.
It can be very difficult and sometimes impossible to prevent falls, but one can certainly take steps to prevent circumstances that may contribute to a fall or other type of mishap. The truth is that I am now a fall risk, and I needed to figure out strategies to prevent falling before I really hurt myself.
We in the MS world are all too familiar with adaptive equipment and assistive devices that help make life easier. Normally,
I use a rollator, or rolling walker, to walk, but I also use it in other ways to keep me feeling safer. For example, sometimes I place it between a table and the sink or between the table and a counter, and it acts as a safe touch point between spots. Just having it visible to me is comforting. I make sure all wheels are in the braked position, rendering the walker immobile, and I keep it equidistant from the two stable surfaces.
This is my own way of dealing with an issue related to my MS that I now call my human-centered design. I used similar problem-solving to look for ways to prevent the types of falls I described earlier.
My HCD Solution Prevents Falls and Helps Spasticity
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