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Adaptations For The Elderly And Disabled

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  • Admin
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  • Adaptations, Elderly And Disabled
  • Posted date:
  • 06-09-2021
Adaptations For The Elderly And Disabled

Do you want to find out more about home adaptations for the elderly and disabled? This article looks at how to adapt your home as you get older.

How to adapt your home as you get older

You may not think that adapting your home as you grow older is a necessity. However, there are many modifications you can make to keep parts of your home safe to use and live in as you age. 

There are useful home adaptations and equipment to suit any budget, from basic steps like installing grab rails on stairs or in bathrooms to major projects such as installing stairlifts. Here we have outlined advice, along with a few steps you can take to make your home safer to live in later in life.

Understanding the Risks of Falls

Bathroom adaptations

Bathrooms are possibly the most essential room to adapt as you age. Given that as you grow older, your coordination and balance can deteriorate, the often slippery areas of a bathroom can become dangerous. 

Therefore, adding grab rails is the easiest way to increase the safety of your bathroom and ensure you can get in and out of the bath or shower. Depending on your personal needs, grab rails can be installed in baths, beside toilets and in showers.

Installing a stairlift

Again, given that your physical abilities deteriorate as you age, installing a stairlift in your house could be an appropriate step to take. 

These stairlifts can have increased costs depending on your budget, especially compared to bannisters or grab rails. 

However, they are an excellent solution for those with reduced mobility. They are also a way for those who struggle to move around, live independently and navigate their homes. 

Ramps for the home

Ramps are far easier to navigate than stairs, making them an ideal solution for those with multiple levels in their homes. Whether permanent or temporary portable versions, ramps can safely help those with limited mobility get in and out of their homes. 

Contacting your local council or local authority is the best way to arrange an assessment of your housing to determine what you need to move around the home safely. 

Grab rails

Grab rails are the most dynamic and universal mobility home adaptations you can make to your home. They can give those with limited mobility or who are disabled greater confidence when moving around their house. 

Their practical applications are also wide-ranging, given that they can be installed wherever they are needed. 

Majoritively they are placed where people need to change from sitting to standing or where the levels of their homes change, such as stairways. 

Small adaptations to make life easier

Of course, depending on people's particular needs, comprehensive and expensive modifications or home improvements may be necessary. However, even minor home adaptations can drastically improve older people's lives. These small alterations can improve the safety of people's homes, no matter their conditions and mobility limitations. 

01

Improve lighting

Improving light wherever you can throughout your home is an excellent and easy way to make moving around safer. It would help if you tried to improve the level of natural light in your house as much as possible. 

It is best to remove anything blocking the light from windows and allow it into the spaces you use the most.

Not only will this make mobility safer, but it can also help older people to keep track of the time and movements between night and day. 

It is also crucial to ensure bedrooms are dark enough to enable good sleeping patterns.

02

Create clear contrasts

Creating distinct contrasts between patterns and colours in your home can make them safer as you grow older. 

Along with reduced mobility, old age can present cognitive issues, leading you to become increasingly confused and unable to distinguish between colours.

Therefore, creating definite contrasts between furniture, paint colours, bathroom fittings, and bedding can help you navigate your home confidently and safely. 

However, it would be best to avoid distracting and confusing patterns, such as vivid stripes, as they often do more harm than good.

03

Open outdoor space

Extending your home into outdoor spaces can also have great benefits as you grow older. If you have a garden or yard to extend your liveable space, it is best to take advantage of it. 

Getting physical exercise and fresh air is crucial at any stage of life, especially as you grow older. Widening doorways can also improve accessible spaces both inside and outside.

Creating a comfortable and calming place to relax outdoors can offer you a great place to take time for yourself and collect your thoughts as you age. If you love gardening, creating flower beds and caring for foliage can give you a sense of purpose and provide a way to conduct some light physical activity.

04

Clear up any clutter

Clutter is one of the major hazards in older people's homes. Since trips and falls are the most common cause of injury in older people, removing any clutter or potential tripping hazards from your home can drastically improve your safety.

Ensuring any trinkets or hoarded things are safely stored away from rooms that are often used. Old, damaged and unused furniture should also be removed to prevent potential trip hazards due to clutter.

05

Make it homely

One of the greatest benefits of receiving home care services is that you can remain in the comforting and familiar surroundings of your own home. This can be incredibly helpful for those with cognitive conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Holding onto your possessions and family photographs can often help those with memory loss, given that it is the short-term memory that is most often affected by dementia. The independence and personal freedom you can hold on to by receiving home care should not be underestimated.

06

Keep it tidy

Along with removing clutter, generally keeping your home tidy and clean can also keep it safe for you to live in. Home carers or live-in caregivers can help those with reduced mobility to keep their homes tidy and safe for them to be in.

Ultimately, the ability to remain in your own home as an older adult depends on the health and safety aspects of your property. So long as it is safe and hygienic to remain in, there should be no problem.


If you have questions about the duties and responsibilities of a carer, we hope this information has been useful to you.

We offer specialist home care services and live-in care for vulnerable adults throughout London. Get in contact today if you have a loved one that would benefit from professional care at home.