Accessible Design Services

We talk to many people experiencing a family crisis, like a fall injury. Unfortunately, most people do not address their own needs or the needs of their loved ones until after an injury has occurred.

As we age, we become weaker and less agile, which increases our chances of falling. Though most of us know a senior who has been injured in a fall, we are in denial about our own risks of falling. We may acknowledge that stairs in our homes will become hard to negotiate. We might even say, “We’re going to live here until we can’t manage the stairs.” Yet, if on a Monday something happens that means we can’t manage the stairs anymore, we can’t move into an ideal home on Tuesday.

This hesitancy makes fall injuries a growing public health issue. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, each year $50 billion is spent on non-fatal fall injuries among adults aged 65 and older. The long-term effects of injuries from falls include disability, dependence on others, lost time from work and household duties, and a diminished quality of life. Fortunately, many falls can be prevented by being proactive about aging-in-place.

Aging-in-place design and remodeling provide both physical comfort and peace of mind.

Physical Comfort

Most living spaces are designed for families—parents and children—not older people. Younger people negotiate common features without thinking, like steps into the house, up and down between interior levels, steep or narrow stairways, stepping into a bathtub to take a shower. Common building practices like fiberglass bathtub/shower units, which redefined a full bathroom as having the means to bathe or shower, require vigilance by older adults to avoid falling. If you fell and needed to use a walker temporarily, however, chances are you would not be able to access your master bathroom. Your walker would not fit through the typical 24” doorway between the master bedroom and bathroom because 24” doorways are designed for maximize wall space for large furniture.

Peace of Mind

Preparing for your future physical well-being is just as important as preparing for your future financial well-being. Yet many people fear making changes that will make their homes look institutional. They resist making the modifications that would give them peace of mind. Our projects demonstrate that living spaces modified for aging-in-place can be functional, stylish, and beautiful.

We encourage anyone planning repairs, upgrades, style updates, particularly to increase resale value, to factor in the future and pay for good design. Good aging-in-place design accommodates all of those objectives (see the Richey’s Project). Peace of mind means feeling confident that you have spent your money wisely by making prudent choices about your future physical well-being.

We were contacted by a family beyond our service area. Bob, a WWII veteran, had fallen. We met with his wife and four adult children. The following excerpt is from his wife’s letter:

“I would like to thank you for your advice when we needed it most. It was a difficult time for all of us, and you were sensitive and helpful. . . After his stay in the hospital and rehab. . . Bob will be coming home next week. He has done better in rehab than anyone dared to hope. . . and he is walking (with some support) with a walker. He also has a wheelchair, and when he came for a home visit with two therapists yesterday, I was able to push him up the 36 foot ramp, installed by one of the companies that you recommended. . . Your advice was a great help to us, and we have followed your recommendations.”

Dagrun Bennet, Franklin, Indiana

Family caregivers provide an immeasurable amount of love and support to loved ones who can no longer function independently or are facing chronic illness and disability. If you or a loved one intends to age-in-place, your family members will likely be called upon to provide assistance. Being proactive about aging-in-place remodeling will reduce the physical and mental stress on all of you.

The psychic cost of that care includes the expense of mental and physical stress when assisting loved ones with toileting, washing and bathing, walking, ascending and descending stairs, raising them up from falls, getting in and out of bed, dressing, not to mention medical appointments, shopping, errands, etc. Caregivers experience greater mental stress when longevity extends the length, scope, and complexity of their responsibilities, especially in their roles as surrogate decision makers.

Visitability means anyone can easily enter and exit your home, comfortably use the bathroom, and participate in cooking by using kitchen counters and appliances within their reach.

People, not just elderly loved ones, visit our homes. They come in all shapes and sizes, range in age from infants to seniors, and possess various ever-changing abilities. A house that is designed and built to reflect principles of Universal Design is safer and more accommodating to everyone who lives in or visits, regardless of age or physical ability.

Many of our holiday traditions involve gathering as families and friends to prepare and share special meals. Preparing and eating these meals together is a memorable part of these occasions. Imagine how meaningful and rewarding it would be to host and cook with all of your loved ones on those special days.