Making modifications and adjustments to your home is part of successful aging in place. While each person is different and requires unique solutions to their needs, there are essential aging-in-place additions that anyone can benefit from throughout the process. Various home repairs for seniors can increase accessibility and comfort. Swapping knobs for handles, installing shower bars or seats, or widening doorways all offer increased access in different ways.

Increase Independence

The purpose of aging in place is to remain independent enough to stay at home rather than under the care of a convalescent home or another medically guided care facility. To maintain and increase independence, specific measures must be secured for that to happen.

As you age, you may require the use of a walker, wheelchair, or other assistive medical technology. When going from room to room in your home, narrow doorways can impede your ability to get from one room to the next on your own because the assistive tech will not fit through the door. You have to choose between waiting for help or a caregiver to arrive to get what you need or attempting to access it without your tech, neither of which are ideal options for an independent senior.

Widened doorways allow for assistive technology to fit through with ease. You can access the other home areas for what you need and return as you need to without the help of others. Waiting for a caregiver is no longer required.

Add Convenience

You never know when a medical emergency will arise. Guaranteeing easy access for medical professionals to enter your home is vital for getting the medical assistance you need when you need it. The moments it might take to squeeze equipment through tight hallways and doorways could be necessary to save your life in the event of a fire or medical crisis.

Other ways increased doorways are convenient are when you do not yet have assistive technology. You may require the occasional help hand of a caregiver or partner to get into a chair or bed. To do so, you must put your weight on them as you walk through the door. Walking side-by-side is much easier when the doorway is wide enough for both of you to fit through without hitting the sides.

Maintain Mobility

Home healthcare often requires a certain level of mobility. When licensed caregivers enter the home for medical care or regular check-ups, they ensure that you can stay in the house and age in place, but you must be able to remain mobile and access primary areas of your residence.

Areas like the kitchen, bathroom, washrooms, and laundry are essential to access so you can age in place. You must have some ability to access food for yourself, get in and out of the bathroom independently, maintain personal hygiene, and keep clothes and bedding clean.

Accessing all the areas necessary to complete routine aging-in-place tasks can be frustrating, if not impossible, without wider doorways, particularly if you need to move yourself, any assistive technology, and other items from room to room. In some cases, widened doorways make it possible for motorized carts or electric wheelchairs with baskets to quickly travel through different areas of the home. The basket area of the motorized cart can carry food, clothing, linens, or necessary toiletries for washing.