Staying Home – Modifications to help you live more comfortably and efficiently at home, for longer

Remodeling a home to prepare it for the long term is about more than adding grab bars or installing ramps. It’s about creating a vision for how people can occupy the space safely, comfortably and happily.

“We start aging as soon as we’re born,” says Marcia DuBois, deputy commissioner of the Division for Community Living within the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services. “What can we do to plan for that? We plan for other things in our lives — it doesn’t have to be gloom and doom. People are living longer and healthier and more vibrant lives than ever before.”

Little changes can make a big difference in a home’s livability, DuBois notes: replacing twist doorknobs with levers, installing railings to offer support, enlarging doorways, and placing ramps and chair lifts to accommodate wheelchairs. Having a full bathroom and bedroom — or at least a place to sleep — on the first floor is also helpful, she says.

“Start with something small, so if something were to happen — like a fall — [modifications] would already be done,” she says. “Get a room ready to be a bedroom, and get the bathroom ready. Approach it as a bathroom upgrade.”

Read the entire article at Richmond Mag.