Last Updated on February 16, 2024 by Saira Farman
Many people believe that all it takes to make a home more wheelchair accessible is to just install wheelchair ramps where one has stairs and call it a day. However, this is not the case. You must consider how wheelchair users will navigate the home, what their potential obstacles could be, and what can make their lives easier. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how you can make the home a more accessible place (one of them is using portable ramps in Philadelphia)!
Making a more wheelchair accessible home!
The following are some of the things you can do to make your home more accessible:
- Make the shelves and rods lower: Think about reaching for a high shelf when you’re sitting on a chair. It’s pretty hard, right? The first thing you should do is lower the height of all the shelves and rods in the home so that the person on the wheelchair does not have to keep asking for help each time they need to reach for something.
- Use cordless technology: Cords can get entangled in the wheels of the wheelchair, and this makes them quite unsafe. Using cordless gadgets and devices, including lighting solutions, can really help you make the home a place that’s more accommodating to a wheelchair.
- Rethink your furniture: Wheelchairs can be quite bulky and if your home is filled with furniture, it can be quite hard for people to move around without knocking things over. Unless you live in a very spacious home, you must rethink the way your furniture is positioned so that the person on the wheelchair can move around easily.
- Smoothen the exterior: If you have a driveway that has been paved with gravel, then that’s something that definitely needs to change as it’s hard to move wheelchairs on the same. Make the area smoother by asking someone to lay down a concrete or stone driveway.
- Get portable wheelchair ramps: Wheelchair ramps are a must-have for any home with steps or stairs. As you can imagine, it is not easy for people in wheelchairs to move up or down even a single step. You can use portable ramps that can be removed when they are not required.
- Install toilet grab bars: Going to the bathroom can be difficult for those in a wheelchair. Some people require assistance while others prefer to grab onto bars and hoist themselves onto the pot. To help with the latter, you need to install toilet grab bars on either end of the toilet. You can also install such rods in the shower area so that there’s added safety and stability there while having a bath.
Read also: 8 Plumbing Problems Most Homeowners Encounter
These are some of the most important changes you need to make to make a home more wheelchair accessible.
