Ways to Update Home for Better Accessibility

When reduced mobility becomes a daily challenge, the home you’ve loved may no longer be a good fit for you. A change in your personal mobility could come suddenly, perhaps after an accident or illness. Learn ways to adapt your home safely this year.

When reduced mobility becomes a daily challenge, the home you’ve loved for so long may no longer be a good fit for you. A change in your personal mobility could come suddenly, perhaps after an accident or illness. Or it possibly might happen gradually over time, simply as part of getting older. Whatever the case, you could find yourself struggling to move around your own home safely and easily.  

In extreme cases, such as becoming reliant on a wheelchair, you might need to find a new home better suited to your changed circumstances. But in most cases, there are lots of simple adaptations that can be carried out to make your home ‘user-friendly’ again. If you’re a little unsteady on your feet, grab rails can be fitted around the home, anywhere that you need a helping hand or a bit of extra support. These days, many of them are stylishly designed and with an attractive finish, so your home doesn’t start to look like a clinic or hospital.   

If getting in and out of your bath is difficult, there are various bath seats, bath lifts, or accessible baths with an opening door. You could even replace the bath with a walk-in shower, complete with seating, which could be a better option if you’re not worried about a long soak in the bath. In the bedroom, replacing your bed with one that stands higher or is electrically-adjustable, is another great way to adapt to your surroundings. Similarly, high seat chairs or electric riser-recliners can make standing up and sitting down a lot easier.   

You might also want to consider installing a ‘Personal Emergency Response System’ in your home. While not strictly a home adaptation, it could bring enhanced peace of mind. This can assist with individuals for those who have difficulty or have a fall. There are various types available and they can be a real lifeline, especially if you live alone. But perhaps the single most beneficial adaptation you could make to your home is installing a stairlift. When mobility is hampered, the stairs in your home can represent a big challenge – and the biggest potential danger zone. A fall anywhere in the home can be serious, but a fall on the stairs could be catastrophic.  

Many people with mobility challenges find the stairs a real obstacle. They begin limiting the number of times they use them each day, or change to living solely on the ground floor, effectively giving up half their home. It needn’t be that way, as a home stairlift completely eliminates the obstacle of stairs. It allows you to move smoothly up and downstairs in safety and comfort whenever you like, with continued access to all of your home. In short, a home stairlift can make your two-storey home user-friendly again, despite your mobility challenges.  

Modern stairlifts are unobtrusive, designed to blend well into a domestic setting. For anyone who struggles with the stairs, a stairlift delivers life-changing benefits without the stress. Also, it eliminates the cost of moving away from a much-loved home. Combined with some of the other home adaptations mentioned here, a stairlift can transform a property that has become problematic into one that is comfortable, welcoming, and homely again.