Accessibility is one of those concerns that we generally don’t think about until we reach a certain age. In most cases, we’ll start to think about accessibility in the home when we start to lose our full range of movement, or when we start to find it difficult to do things like walk up and down the stairs.
To future-proof your home, it’s important to start looking at some of these considerations as early as possible. The last thing you want is to injure yourself one day and then suddenly lose access to certain parts of your home. Ideally, you want to slowly transition yourself to a home that is more accessible and less of a pain to get around. So as soon as you start noticing difficulties in moving around your home, it’s important to start making a couple of changes.
Changes to the bathroom
Your bathroom is one of those areas in your home that might need a lot of changes in order to be suitable for use when you’re older. This could be a few simple handrails that you can hold on to when you need to get in and out of the bath itself, or adding anti-slip surfaces so that you’re less likely to fall when you enter the shower. However, if you feel that you might have more trouble in the bathroom, you could replace your bathroom and/or shower with something that is more suitable such as an electric bath lift or a walk-in bath.
Step-free access
Whether it’s replacing stairs around your home with handicap ramps or adding a stairlift to certain parts of the home, step-free access is an incredibly important feature in your home once you start getting older. While most new homes are built with step-free access in mind, some older homes might need to be modified slightly for accessibility. Luckily, it’s easy to replace steps with a handicap ramp, so this shouldn’t pose too much trouble.
Larger doorways
It’s common for people with limited movement to use a wheelchair, but it can be a little inconvenient using it around the home. One of the biggest challenges is doorways. Since a wheelchair can’t fit through a normal doorway, you might find yourself needing to widen them in order to get a wheelchair to fit through. This is usually the best solution unless you can find a wheelchair that is slim enough to fit through a regular sized doorway.
Removing carpets
Carpets can be a bother for certain times of mobility aids such as wheelchairs. They also require a lot more maintenance than hardwood flooring. However, if you’re willing to put in the work to maintain your carpets despite wheelchair or other mobility aid usage, then there are plenty of ways to make the job easier. This can include regular cleaning of your carpet and rugs, or ensuring that the wheels are clean before bringing the wheelchair in so that it doesn’t spread dirt and mud everywhere.
