Home Alterations

Adapting your home may become necessary as you grow older and become less physically active. You may also need to adapt your home if you have a disability or a family member with a disability.

Common alterations

Some common alterations to make a home suitable for someone with a disability or an older person with mobility problems include:

• Doorways and corridors wide enough to allow a wheelchair to pass through without difficulty

• Light switches, door handles, doorbells and entry phones at a height reachable by someone in a wheelchair

• Grab rails for support (particularly on stairways and in bathrooms)

• Special bathroom facilities (for example, higher toilets, a back rest against the toilet cistern, level deck shower, bath with hoist, hand basins at an appropriate height for a person in a wheelchair)

• Bathroom or bedroom facilities on the ground floor

• Ramps that provide easy access to your home for wheelchair users

• Approaches to the house (for example, driveway or avenue) that are level and have a firm surface

• Stair lift or elevator

• Specialised furniture such as adjustable beds and support chairs

• Alert and signalling devices for the deaf and hard of hearing, and Braille equipment for those with visual impairments.

In case of emergency, for example a fire, it is important that exits from the house are accessible and that you do not rely entirely on mechanical means (such as a lift) to exit the house.