What home modifications are necessary for someone using a wheelchair after a spinal cord injury? - Mary Jane Mulcahey, PhD, OTR/L

The width of the door is important, number one. Ramps, if you have steps to get inside. We like to look at where the light switches are, and so bring the light switches down so they’re in a reachable range. I think those are kind of the essential ones. And then, I always like to ask the person with the spinal cord injury and his or her family what other modifications are okay with you, and what else is going on with the family. And so, it’ a balance. You don’t want to adapt the environment entirely for the person with the spinal cord injury if there’re other factors, which there always are at home. There may be children, there may be aging parents. And so we look at the person with the spinal cord injury, get those essential modifications-ramps, doorways, maybe moving some furniture, moving the bed in a certain way-but then, we engage the family and the person with the spinal cord injury and work together to figure out the other adaptations