Preventing scalds in the elderly

The elderly are especially at risk of  accidents and I am passionate about doing all I can to prevent them.  I was contacted by Philippa Aldrich from the Future Perfect company in response to my article on kettle cradles and other gadgets to help prevent the elderly scalding themselves. The Future Perfect Company provide useful items to make later life easier which are not only practical but look attractive also.

This is what she said –  “Hi Caron. One of the entries to our student design competition was this boiling mug idea which goes some way to avoiding the problems you have identified whilst still looking stylish. What do you think? Philippa.”

So I had a look…. and loved the idea and the design and actually feel it is even safer than some of the products on the market that still involve trying to get boiling water into a mug.

There is always the risk of missing and still scalding, whereas with the Boiling Mug cold water is in the mug already and then heated.

The product is based around an aesthetically pleasing stainless steel base plate, onto which the user places their mug full of cold water. When the mug is placed onto the base plate, a charge is transmitted through electromagnetic induction into the boiling element, boiling the mug of water.

This use of technology means that the base plate does not get hot to touch and is therefore safe to use.  Only the required amount of water is heated meaning that energy is not wasted through boiling unnecessary quantities of liquid.

I also was excited at the fact that young students were not only designing products but actually having to put themselves in the position of an elderly person and trying to understand the difficulties they may encounter.

Another idea is to use a one cup boiler. They still involve boiling water being poured into a mug but the water is cold when it is put into the machine, still making it an easier alternative to a large kettle.

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