Today’s mission in Brighton took us to assist Mr K and his live-in carer, Ms A. Following an OT assessment, a brand-new, bright blue kitchen chair was ordered for Mr K, who lives with dementia. Flat-pack assembly was required, and with Ms A unable to use her left hand, it was time to break out the toolkit and conquer the IKEA-style puzzle.

What seemed like a quick, straightforward build quickly turned into a battle against factory alignment. A pre-drilled hole and One stubborn wooden dowel refused to sit where it belonged. After a bit of coaxing, realignment, everything finally lined up.

Ms A mentioned that most of Mr K’s previous chairs had met an untimely end—turns out Mr K stands at over six feet tall and gained a bit of healthy weight during his stay in a nursing home! With that in mind, I extra-tightened every single screw to ensure maximum structural integrity against future seating impacts.

Before calling it a day, both Ms A and I gave the chair a full sit-and-wiggle test to confirm it was rock solid and ready for daily use. I advised Ms A to keep an eye on the screws periodically and to reach out to the referrer if the chair ever needs tightening down the road. Mission accomplished.