Tips for Making Your Home Wheelchair Accessible

As the holidays arrive, often they bring with them fun parties and family reunions that can ring in the season with excitement, but also can provide unexpected difficulties for those in need of wheelchair accessibility. For the family and friends in your life who are in need of handicapped accessibility, whether just coming for a visit, or moving in as you become a caretaker, it will make a world of difference to alter your home to be wheelchair accessible.

This can seem like an overwhelming project, so we have put together some resources for you as you plan your changes.  Easily accessible, well built options will, needless to say, mean the world to your wheelchair-bound loved one.

Make Your Bathroom Wheelchair Accessible

• Replace your bathtub with a shower or walk-in tub that can be easily accessed without fear of slipping or the challenge of climbing over an edge. Showers are the best option for wheelchairs, but walk in tubs can be an alternative for those with less limited mobility.
• Add handrails, grab-bars and seating areas. Fitting your shower with a movable seat and hand-held shower head makes bathing easier and gives the option of autonomy, and handrails ensure safety on slippery floors.

Making your Home Handicapped Accessible

• Both structural and non-structural changes may need to be made to accomodate a wheelchair. For example, measure the width of the wheelchair and the doorframes in your home to determine if you’ll need to extend them or build a double door. Non-structurally, you may need to rearrange furniture and room set-up so that a wheelchair can maneuver more easily.

• This great tutorial from Lowes Home Improvement [source: http://www.lowes.com/cd_Build+a+Wheelchair+Ramp_1284487683] will give you a step-by-step guide to constructing an accessibility ramp outside your home so that dealing with steps won’t be a problem.

Handicapped accessibility for your home is a necessity for anyone with an live-in member of the handicapped community and a great idea for those with family or friends who are wheelchair-bound.  For questions about other resources that may be helpful for you during this transition, or about our wheelchair van or mobility options, drop us a note today!