What Are The Most Common Home Care Adaptations?

The ultimate goal of home care is independence, and local authorities and private care providers alike will often take a tailored, holistic approach to ensuring that someone has all of their needs taken care of.

At the care needs assessment, the primary focus will be on exploring which options are available and would be most suitable to enable someone to do everything in life they need to and want to, and whilst part of this will involve the arrangement of personal care, it also includes removing obstacles within the home itself.

This latter part of the assessment explores the potential for fitting home adaptations, which are any modifications or additions to a home that can help make everyday tasks easier to do.

There are a lot of different types of adaptations, from stairlifts to wider doors, but according to the most recent housing survey that explores adaptations specifically, the most common type of adaptation is the grab rail.

Nearly half (42 per cent) of homes that required any adaptations used a handrail in either the kitchen or the bathroom, two of the most important rooms in the home, two of the rooms which can pose trip and slip hazards due to the presence of water, and two rooms where people are likely to move around, sit down and stand up a lot.

Besides grab rails, the other most common adaptations are bathing aids, such as shower or bath seats, that allow for more comfortable bathing and make it easier to get in and out of a bath without having to step over into the tub.

As well as this, specialist toilet seats are common, which could be simply raised, but could also be padded, be adjustable to allow for easier sitting and standing, or are themselves fitted with grab rails.

Finally, some houses replace their bath entirely with a shower, either as part of a conventional bathroom or as a walk-in wet room.