3 Steps to Prepare Your Home For a Disabled Family Member

3 Steps to Prepare Your Home For a Disabled Family Member

Living with a disability often transforms everyday tasks into significant challenges that can feel insurmountable at times. Activities that many people take for granted—such as going to the shops, getting out of bed, dressing, feeding yourself, or simply managing chronic pain—can require extraordinary effort and resilience.

These struggles are real, persistent, and deeply personal, often impacting multiple aspects of daily life. However, it’s important to know that there are strategies and resources available to help lighten the load. One of the most effective ways to improve your daily experience is by tailoring your living space to meet your specific needs.

A thoughtfully adapted home can provide not only accessibility but also comfort, safety, and a renewed sense of independence. Whether it’s installing grab bars, widening doorways, adding ramps, or reorganizing your space for better functionality, small changes can make a big difference. With the right modifications, your home can truly become a sanctuary that empowers you to navigate life’s challenges with greater ease. Here are some ideas and tips to help you begin this transformative journey.

 

1) In the sitting room

Having a cozy and comfortable place to sit at home and relax is so important. For some disabilities, standard living room furniture will suffice but for others, you might need specially adapted pieces. You could check out aged care chairs, they’re designed for those will disabilities in mind and are useful for all kinds of conditions. Other kinds of chairs and sofas can be remotely operated to help you get from a seated to a sitting position more easily. Reclining beds also offer a similar kind of thing and can help you to sit up and get up if you have limited mobility.

2) On the stairs

Getting up and down stairs can be problematic for those with a disability. In some cases, it can be worth adapting your ground floor so you don’t need to use stairs at all, otherwise moving to a property that’s over one floor. However, if you do need to be able to get up and down stairs there are options.

Stair lifts can be helpful, you can also get home elevators which can take you in your wheelchair up to the second floor. Stairs can be very dangerous for those who are vulnerable, in the case of elderly people a fall down the stairs often leads to a broken pelvis. This is an injury that many people go to the hospital with and never come out of, it’s extremely dangerous.

3) In the kitchen

Kitchen taps with a pull-out attachment can be great with people with disabilities as they can be pulled out and used while seated or from a wheelchair. If you have a condition like arthritis, it’s worth getting taps that have an easy on/ off swivel as you don’t need grip strength to swivel it on and off. If you don’t use a wheelchair but still have limited mobility and find standing painful then one option would be to use a perching stool. These can be adjusted so that you’re sat at the right height for your worktops and can allow you to prepare food and cook at the hob, even if you find standing painful or difficult.

Since they have supportive backs and sides they will keep you safe from falling too, so different from regular stools. There are also aids and appliances on the market that can help disabled people in the kitchen, they can do things like increase grip and leverage. From bottle and jar openers to specially adapted scissors, graters, tin openers, and more there are lots of options that are useful as they can help you to keep your independence.

Originally posted 2018-08-02 11:32:19.