Setting up a kitchen for arthritic hands

The rearranging, in order

1. Everyday plates, mugs and pans to between hip and shoulder height. Nothing used daily should need a stool or a deep bend.
2. Heavy items low and close — a cast-iron pan at waist height near the stovetop, never above shoulder level.
3. Group by task: everything for tea in one place, everything for breakfast in another. Fewer trips across the kitchen.
4. A chair or perching stool at the main work surface, so preparation is done sitting down.
5. Clear a straight run of countertop between the sink and the stovetop, so a full pan can be slid rather than carried.
6. Put frequently used tools on a rail at eye level instead of in a deep drawer.

The things worth buying

• Non-slip matting, cut into pieces for under the board, the bowl and the plate. Cheapest useful thing in the kitchen.
• A peeler, a chopping board and a multi-opener with thick soft handles.
• A kettle tipper, or a one-liter kettle, so boiling water is never carried.
• A lever or electric jar opener matched to how much grip is left.
• A pan with two handles rather than one long one, so weight is shared across both hands.
• A pasta pot with a strainer insert, so a heavy pan of boiling water never has to be lifted to a sink.

Technique changes that cost nothing

• Slide pans along the countertop instead of lifting them. Plan the layout so this is possible.
• Fill the kettle with a jug at the sink rather than carrying the kettle to the tap.
• Use both hands for everything you can, even things you used to do one-handed.
• Sit to chop, sit to peel, sit to wash the dishes on a perching stool.
• Buy pre-chopped vegetables when hands are bad. This is sensible, not defeat.
• Cook double and freeze half, so a bad hands day needs only a microwave.

Safety details that matter more with age

• Turn pan handles inward so they are not caught by a sleeve.
• Use the back burners of the stovetop for anything heavy, so a pan is not reached across.
• Keep a fire blanket within reach of the stovetop, not in a cupboard across the room.
• Check that oven gloves are long enough to protect the forearm — thin skin burns quickly.
• Consider an induction stovetop or a stovetop cut-off timer if the stovetop is ever left on. Both are worth asking an occupational therapist about.
• Keep a flashlight in the kitchen for a power cut, so nobody moves around a kitchen in the dark.

If cooking has become genuinely unsafe rather than merely difficult — burns, forgotten hobs, repeated falls in the kitchen — that is worth raising with a doctor or an occupational therapist rather than solving with equipment.