What is the worst access issue a person with a disability can face in their homes?
Ask any three people what they think the worst residential accessibility problem is and you are likely to get three different answers. I did some searching on line and I really didn’t find any valid research where the question was addressed. If you find it, please let me know. I will post it, share it, and learn from it! You can look at the development of Fair Housing Standards and also Visitability standards for Atlanta Georgia and Austin Texas and it seems that access to the house and the bathroom are addressed, with access to the house done first. http://www.wid.org/publications/accessible-housing-database-and-manualOur records show that our clients usually have us address bathrooms, transfers, and access to the home, in that order. A good number of clients have often already addressed access to the home before calling us. They believe that a regular contractor or a family member had the ability to construct a ramp that would work. Frankly, I’m not always impressed with the quality and safety of what they end up with and I know many have ended up with ramps when low rise, deep tread steps or a lift might have been more functional or longer lasting for them, but I digress. My experience is that people with new disabilities, think about getting into the house first. Once they are there, the bathroom quickly becomes the most problematic room. Finally, transfers become important as they are needed whenever a person wants to move from one area to the other or when safety for both the individual and their caregivers is compromised with inadequate transfer technique or equipment.
Just for fun, we asked Occupational Therapists attending the Nebraska Occupational Therapy Association Fall conference to vote on which of the 3 access issues they thought was the worst. Keep in mind, this was a sample of OTs and OT students who happened to pass our booth and who chose to vote. Twenty nine voted for the bathroom, 8 voted for access to the house, and one voted for transfers. About half of them noted that it really wasn’t a good vote as they needed to ask the person living in the home which was the worst issue for them.
Trust these fine Nebraskan Occupational Therapists to hit the nail on the head or to at least think like I do. I believe that the worst access issue a person can face in their homes is the one that is causing the most problem for them right now. So to paraphrase one of the more practical minded and blunt employees at Home Access Solutions – Who cares about surveys? People know what they want when they call us.
That is one benefit of working with a private residential accessibility planning company like Home Access Solutions, Inc. We have a great deal of practical experience and access to research to help you achieve successful access to your home, but you are the person who has the deciding vote about what the worst access is for you. You are the captain of the access team.
