Home modifications are the physical changes made around your property to improve your independence in moving around the building and using appliances.
These changes have several benefits for people with disabilities, like enhancing comfort, convenience, and confidence when completing daily tasks. But how does installing assistive technology improve safety and accessibility?
Keep reading to discover why some minor home modifications could transform your or your loved one’s residence into a safe sanctuary, boost your independence, and improve your quality of life.
How Do Home Modifications Improve Accessibility?
From a slippery bathroom floor to steep stairs, homes pose several potential risks and accessibility issues. Various minor and major home modifications can solve these problems and yield the following benefits:
Lowers Injury Risk
According to Government research, most injuries requiring hospitalisation result from falls. Fitting grab rails, better lighting, and level flooring can lower these risks.
For instance, hard flooring like wood or laminate help wheelchairs can move easily. People who find walking difficult are also less likely to trip. Meanwhile, grab rails enable you to lift and lower yourself onto objects autonomously without losing balance.
Improves Independence
Home modifications also work as part of a personalised care solution that prioritises your needs and goals, such as reigning independence. Rather than moving to an assisted living facility, adjustments allow you to remain at home and live more independently.
For example, textured floor markings and long lever taps enable people with visual difficulties to navigate their homes more easily and complete everyday chores like cleaning and cooking without aid.
Boosts Confidence
Home modifications improve peace of mind for not only yourself but also your loved ones. They can be confident knowing that you live in a safe, accessible environment where your needs are consistently being met.
Biggest Risks in the Home For People with Disabilities
The results of a survey conducted by an occupational therapist group suggest that the most important minor and complex modifications are in the bathroom. This area often has slippery, wet surfaces that cause tripping hazards for people with limited mobility.
Shower seats, bath doors, rails, and saucer switches that are reachable from lower positions enable you to use bathroom facilities securely, reducing the risk of injury.
Home modifications are also vital to exits and entrances. These areas are sometimes restrictive in space with raised ledges. Door widening and increased lighting improve visibility and make passing through on a wheelchair or motorised mobility scooter easier.
Key Home Modifications for People With Disabilities
The home modifications that are best for you will depend on your independent needs. The National Disability Insurance Agency’s (NDIA) occupational therapists provide a home modification service that assesses the changes that are most beneficial to your safety and accessibility.
Below, we’ve listed some of the most common alterations that can give you more freedom around your home:
Bathroom Modifications
A raised-height toilet can make it easier to move between seated aids or lower yourself to a seated position, enabling you to handle personal needs independently.
Large step-free and curbless showers can also be handy home modifications, alongside walk-in bathtubs with an easy-to-open entrance and exit flap for improved access.
Grab Bars
Grab bars are an ideal and sturdy home modification solution for people who need support moving between standing and sitting positions. This assistive technology may be mounted to the wall or floor in various rooms and throughout hallways and can be adapted to your individual needs.
Thresholds
For people using wheelchairs, widening hallways is one of the most handy yet slightly more complex home modifications for entering and exiting rooms independently.
Threshold ramps and plates make moving from one room to the other easier without assistance. You may also choose to remove thresholds altogether and create a level surface between rooms.
Flooring and lighting
LED light bulbs are one of the most cost-effective but minor home modifications available, as they are brighter and require replacing less often than other bulbs. They can be installed in hallways, bathrooms, and other places with high fall risks.
An electrician can also lower the height of light switches to make them more accessible for those using a wheelchair.
Getting new non-slip flooring is another of the most obvious home modification solutions for improving accessibility.
If you cannot cover the high costs of completely replacing your tiled floor, consider less complex home modifications like adding a slip-resistant coating to your existing surface. Facilitators can also swap traditional rugs for those with a non-slip backing.
Other Ways to Improve Accessibility
There’s no one size fits all approach when fitting appropriate home modifications and getting sufficient at-home care. Contacting an NDIS-approved disability support service ensures you receive support personalised to your property and needs.
For instance, daily living support services can connect you to a facilitator who teaches you how to safely and comfortably use more complex home modifications, like chair lifts. It can take time to adjust to home modifications. Human support can help you feel more confident in adapting to these measures.
Installing home modifications can also help you reach more tailored personal care support. For example, bath-based supports can help you feel secure while an assistant receiving aid bathing or using the toilet.
How We Can Help with Accessibility in Your Home
Here at Gracious Australia, we provide care from the comfort of your own home with the goal of helping you live safely and independently.
What makes our services unique is that we’ll work closely with you or someone you care about by listening with care, compassion, and empathy. Our conversations will help us create a personalised plan based on your unique needs, such as adding home modifications and connecting you with occupational therapists.
To find out more about how our friendly and expert support workers can help you navigate any new home modification safely and independently, reach out to us today.
