Your 85-year old father has always understood the importance of accessibility. Perhaps because he spent 35 years of his working career putting in passenger and freight elevators, your father has always been aware of the benefits of easy access. Long before your mother needed a ramp coming in from the garage, your father build long wheelchair accessible ramps both from the garage to the house and in and out of the back door. Always the person do make his daily tasks easier, your father even had the old bathtub removed and instead installed an easier to access shower unit with a seat.
Now that your mother finds herself far less mobile than she was even a year ago, the early steps that your father took to address the importance of accessibility have paid off. Still trying to look months and years down the road, your father is also looking at wheelchair lifts for vehicles, as well as installing other conveniences, like bathroom accessibility products, in their home.
Accessibility Standards Provide Business Owners and Schools Directives for Making Their Spaces Convenient
Although public buildings and government offices have long been regulated in the importance of accessibility, transforming a home into a place that is easy to manage can be challenging. Older homes, in fact, are especially difficult to renovate for wheelchair access and other mobility products. The fact that the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and the National Conference of State Legislatures reports that 90% of people over the age of 65 want to live in their home as long as they can, however, is an indicator of why adapting a home for mobility is important.
Although many people move out of two story homes and into ranch style floor plans long before they need them, many others still find themselves in homes that require major modifications. And while products like lift chair recliners are an easy fix, adapting an older home to handle a curved stair lift or other modifications takes an expert approach. Working with contractors who have experience with installing elderly lift assist devices, for instance, can help a home owner find a way to make their current space work.
Unfortunately, over 50% of all the falls that occur among older adults take place at home. This statistic alone is an indicator of how much more work is needed in the individual homes across the nation.