Disability Friendly Home for the Holidays

As the holidays approach, you may be preparing your home for family members to visit and stay with you. If you have disabled family members, you can take extra steps to make your home welcoming and safe for their visit.

Stairs can present a challenge to family members in wheelchairs or who have trouble navigating stairs with a walker or cane. You can rent wheelchair ramps or a platform lift for your home to make it more accessible just for the holiday season.

Electric cords and rugs in walkways present a fall hazard for people who use assistive devices like canes or walkers. They may also get caught on wheelchair wheels, tugging down lamps or slowing down your family members. Make sure to clear these items, and other loose items, away from walkways to make your home safer.

You may also need to remove some items of furniture to widen walkways and make it easier to navigate rooms. Small tables, floor lamps or other items may get in the way and need to be temporarily moved to other locations to open up space. As a bonus, this will also help fit more people into your rooms during parties.

Ensure that items you need every day, like toilet paper, plates, cups or silverware are in easy to reach spots. You may need to move these items to lower spots so they can be reached from a wheelchair or without straining, which can cause falls.

If your bathtubs or showers are not zero-entry, they can present a challenge to disabled relatives. You can rent a portable shower to help make showering easier during your relative’s visit.