Creating A Safe Home
Creating A Safe Home. Santa Clara Signal staff writer, Anne Marie Mills
One of the simplest modifications involves creating a “barrier-free” home. According to Santa Clara Signal staff writer, Anne Marie Mills in her article, “Is Your Home Safe?” what this means is that the home has no barriers prohibiting people with disabilities to freely navigate the home. For example, a person in a wheelchair needs to have door opening sizes increased from the basic 29 inch to 30 inch width to as much as 36 inches to 42 inches. Carpets need to be commercial-contract carpet similar to the type used in banks and office buildings, rather than the traditionally thicker home carpets so that a person in a wheelchair or using a walker will have no problem walking on them.
In addition, there are three other key areas of focus for modifying your home for your elder--lighting, the bathrooms and home furnishings.
