Disability or mobility issues with your friends and family can be disheartening. In this hard time, they need all your support and love to feel better about themselves. The sudden dependency on others for day-to-day chores like visiting the bathroom, putting dishes into the sink, etc. is the major cause of frustration among them.
In this tough time, you can provide them a bit of comfort and independence by making small but significant changes, in and around the house, so that they can have an easy access within the home. There are various small and big alterations that are suggested by the National Federation of Builders for making your place accessible to people with limited mobility. The points underneath will provide some ideas that can be incorporated to make life easy for them.
Rearranging and Decluttering
You need to take an inspection in and around your house to check for any items that act as a potential hazard for tripping incidents. Declutter or remove any visible cords or wires, replace textured carpets with low-pile range, remove any low-lying decorative hangings, construct a ramp on a door, build an extra-wide doorway or make a pivot or set of sliding glazed patio doors.
Installing Stairlift
Stairs are the biggest nightmares for the people with mobility issues. A stairlift is a perfect solution to provide them with independence to climb up and down the stairs. There are tons of stairlift options available in the market that can fit perfectly in your home, catering to the need of the customer.
Increase Accessibility of Kitchen
The kitchen is another basic area in the house which needs often accessing by the people with mobility issues. They may want to cook or do regular small tasks like heating up the water or boiling eggs or making tea. Consider making these alterations:
- Buy a small dining or breakfast table or a fold-down table.
- Make the kitchen sink accessible from a seated position. You can also create a leg space underneath the sink so that the wheelchair users can easily park themselves near the sink if they are working with the dishes.
- Install the cookers at seating level and place the controls on the front of the appliance to avoid accessing them by reaching over the hot burners.
- Store heavy cooking utensils, canned foods, dishes and other regularly used items on lower shelves.
Install fittings and fixtures like taps, that have an easy knob for operation.
Modify bathroom
A bathroom is the most accident-prone area of the house, due to all slipping incidents. It is even more so for people with mobility problems. Also, it can be embarrassing for them to accompany a helping hand, every time they need to use the bathroom. To make them more confident and give them privacy, there is a lot you can do with your bathroom renovation.
Place grab bars by the toilet or bath, to help people with a disability to lift themselves up and have an extra support.
Buy walk-in bath or shower that have anti-slip and low-level access for wheelchair users or people with mobility problems. Click here to checkout a range of mobility-specific options in walk-in baths and walk-in shower.
Install the countertop sinks for the highest support and accessibility for those with a disability.
Keep all the bathroom accessories and stuff like shampoos, towels, razors, dental floss, etc. at a reachable place. Instead of keeping stuff for daily use on the wall-mounted cabinets, consider placing them in a floored cabinet or on the counter near the sink.
There is a range of toilet seats available for the disabled people, which have a raised seating with support frames around them to be used while sitting or getting up from the toilet.
Level Up the Floor
The floors need to be even, throughout the house. Laminate and tile flooring are good options for hallways, kitchens, and bathrooms.Use only low-pile carpet since they allow easy movement for wheelchairs or mobility scooters and avoid a fall for people using a walking stick.
Easily Accessible Garden
By increasing the accessibility of the garden for disabled people, you are helping them to recover better from their uncomfortable situation. Start with making pathways wide enough for wheelchairs and mobility scooters, install a new outdoor stair lift which is water-proof and temperature resistant.
It is important to check for legal permissions and building regulations before making structural changes, in and around your house. You may not need permissions for small changes like installing a stairlift, but you may need one if changes made involves removing or installing a wall.