Disabled Living - Solutions for Safer and Independent Living

This article is about reducing barriers - converting a home to age-appropriate and for barrier-free living.

For many people, their home is a familiar place, their place to be, a place they do not want to leave because of a disability or because the are depending on help. 

Reconstruction work are the way to stay in the familiar environment and to make them barrier-free as much as possible, barrier-free for the person in need as well for the care-givers. Whether you opt for a huge renovation or 'just' enhancing individual rooms with technical aids, e.g. to a barrier-free bathroom, depends on various factors - let me name a few ...

Barrier-free entrance

It starts already at the entering of the apartment or the house, the first problems for people with disabilities often arise. However, access to the house or apartment should be accessible independently and existing barriers should be bypassed. There is an urgent need for action, especially if there are stairs in front of the front door, the path is uneven or the floor covering becomes a dangerous slippery area when it is wet and cold:

• Access without obstacles
• Adequate lighting at all times of the day
• Non-slip steps and flooring
• handrail systems
• ramps or ramp paths
• Stair lifts, stair climbers, lifting platforms, etc.
• Space for mobility aids such as walkers and wheelchairs

In order to be able to protect the wheelchair or walker from theft or vandalism, metal boxes offer a safe place to store the mobility aid. They are provided with a lock and are usually installed in front of the house entrance.

• sufficient space for turning with a wheelchair or walker - Width of at least 120 cm
• No annoying obstacles or tripping hazards
• Handrails or grab bars on both sides
• Possibly rollator or wheelchair parking space
• Seating, e.g. to put on shoes
• Sufficient lighting

Accessible doors

In order to be able to ensure better mobility, one should also consider converting doors to be barrier-free. Special doors can save space and no longer have to be obstacles for wheelchair users.

• Door width at least 80 cm, for wheelchair users at least 90 cm
• Easily open and close front door and room doors with little/no effort
• Electric doors and door locking systems
• Sliding doors and space-saving doors
• Unhinge doors completely

Doorsteps or door trims

Access from room to room, to the balcony or terrace is often hampered by the fact that there are thresholds between the rooms or between the indoor and outdoor areas. Due to the difference in height of the floors and doorsteps between the rooms, it is difficult to get from one room to the next with a wheelchair or walker.

• Door systems without thresholds or doors without thresholds
• doorstep ramp
• threshold bridge

The barrier-free equipment of the bathroom

The barrier-free bathroom is good for everyone even you are not disabled, suitable for difficult life situations.
A floor-level and spacious shower is necessary for easy entry and exit. 

Hand-rails that are attached to the toilet, bidet, bathtub and washbasin provide additional safety and can be aesthetically integrated.
A wheelchair-accessible washbasin / sink including storage space ensure additional convenience. Shelves, cupboards, towel rails and more should always be mounted at easy reach so that they are easily accessible.

Tips and ideas for a barrier-free bathroom

If you are planning a barrier-free bathroom, you should think about in advance about the different furnishing options - but much more about your or better the needs of the person in need if you are already in need, and on the other hand your parameters, as budget, and where you might get grants, grant funding, or other forms of support money from your health insurance, state, or region, and as well think about other boundary conditions.
In addition, it is particularly important for wheelchair users that access to the bathroom is at least 90 cm wide. In addition, a free area of ​​at least 150 x 150 cm is required in order to have enough freedom of movement. In this way, the furnishing of the bathroom is also wheelchair accessible.
Accessible toilets have special dimensions. They must be 70 cm deep and also need lateral space (90 cm) for wheelchair use.
In this respect, shower toilets are advantageous and particularly recommended, as they combine the functions of a bidet and toilet and thus save a lot of space.
If you need a barrier-free bathroom, you don't have to do without elegant design and an appealing atmosphere. There are numerous collections for a barrier-free bathroom, which show that this type of bathroom can also be furnished in a classy and high-quality way. In this way, the time in the bathroom can be spent comfortably and relaxed.

• Hand-rails fixed, hinged, foldable, collapsible, folding, swiveling, etc
• roll-in shower
• bath lift

Disabled-friendly living can be planned

Due to the different requirements for barrier-free living space depending on the type of disability, individual structural and technical measures must be taken.

• Dimensions of the movement areas
• doors e.g. widen doorways, 
• Stepless accessibility, thresholds, elevators, ramps
• Requirements for kitchen, sanitary facilities, additional living space and outdoor space
• walls, parapets and windows
• floor coverings
• room temperature
• lighting
• telecommunications facilities
• Operating devices such as switches, bells, toilet flushing, etc.

I will continue this article as soon as I have time 😏

In this context - articles I wrote before:

Recommendations and Advices for Caregivers

Take care of your own needs and your power balance - Self-care is important for everyone!