Disabled door openers are a useful addition to your home if you have an elderly relative living with you. In public places you will find door openers that are lowered for wheelchair height. You will also find that the door handles on disabled public toilets are larger and easier to grab than on the standard cubicles.
Disabled Door Openers for Wheelchair Users
If your family member is in a wheelchair, then your aim will be to lower door openers to height that they can reach from their chair. This is just one adaptation that you can make to your home to ensure it is wheelchair accessible. Other adaptations that you should be thinking about are wheelchair ramps, half steps, and stair lifts. Changing your standard door handles to ones that are easy to grip is cheap yet effective. Large pull down handles are the best option and should replace fiddling round door knobs.
Disabled Door Openers for the Elderly
Not all elderly family members who have a disability are confined to a wheelchair. With time and over years however, mobility decreases. It is a fact of life. Things that were easy before will become difficult. Like turning on the kitchen taps or reaching up to take things off shelves. If you have round door knobs, they will be incredibly hard to grasp if you have arthritis. By swapping them for handles that pull down and are easy to reach, you are making your elderly relative’s life instantly easier.
As well as swapping your door openers, you can make other alterations to your home to make it safe and secure. Take away loose rugs, stop leaving things lying around if your family member has failing eyesight. Swap gas fires and cookers for electric ones, and ensure you fit smoke alarms. Forgetfulness also comes with age, and the fewer hazards there are around the home the better.
The kitchen and the bathroom are the two most hazardous rooms within your home. In your bathroom wherever possible you should replace a bathtub with a walk in shower. Add grab rails by the side of the toilet and sink like you find in public toilets. In the kitchen, remove everything from the top shelves of the cupboards, and introduce a step stool that is sturdy and strong for reaching above the countertops.
Independent living is easy when you take time to make the necessary adaptations to your home. Whether a relative is still living alone, or they are living with you and are being left alone for hours whilst you are at work, it is important to ensure that your home or their home is safe. The adaptations you make will depend on whether your family member is a wheelchair user or not. It is possible to avoid having to move home when you live with a wheelchair user. Simply clear passageways so that they are wide enough for a chair, remove obstacles and loose fitting carpets, and call in your mobility and disability specialists to discuss what adaptations are possible for your home.