What home modifications are necessary for someone using a wheelchair? - Kim Eberhardt Muir, MS

The basics we tell our patients when they first go home, is that you need to be able to get in your house safely.  If you can have two accessible entrances, even better in an emergency.  So a ramp or lift is usually what we’re talking about, or an elevator for some people that want to go more than one floor.  After that, the bathroom, and where you’re going to sleep.  Now, a lot people, the second floor, they can’t sleep on the second floor.  So, you have to find another room to be accessible, whether it be a den, another person’s room, a living room.  And, I tell people that’s where you’re going to be for a while; make that look like your bedroom, you know, it’s not just a temporary place.  You need to organize it, and look at it as your bedroom, and create that environment that you want for sleeping, and doing some of your self care.  The bathroom is next, and usually that entails a barrier free, or roll-in shower.  Or, a tub bench in a bathtub, which is not going to require as much, as far as modifications, but may require things like grab bars, and a hand-held shower.