Home modification is the process of making changes to your home to allow the home to work optimally for you and your specific needs. The focus is always on maximizing function and safety, reducing fall risk, and expanding independence. Home modification can include quick and easy changes that many people can independently implement, such as improved lighting, the addition of anti-slip treads on stairways and installation of lever door knobs. At the extreme, home modification may include complete renovation of an interior room or entry/exit and may include landscape changes to allow for a level entry.
- Have you ever moved a small stool into the bathroom so that a grandchild may wash their hands? That is a home modification.
- Have you ever moved the location of a heavy pan to a lower shelf because it was too difficult to lift? That is a home modification.
- Have you added light to your kitchen to make seeing your tasks easier? That is a home modification.
Many of us are already taking steps to modify our homes to make our work and living as simple and easy as possible. A home modification consultant coming to your home and working in tandem with you, will help you to zoom out, and see the issues in the home that you may have missed or become accustomed to; the threshold between the kitchen that sometimes gets tripped over, the slippery rug in front of the toilet, the storage of a frequently used kitchen item in a too tall cabinet.
As your consultant I will use your reported goals, strengths, medical history and critical evaluation of your home to make the best home modification plan for you. We will tour your home together with a focus on the bathroom, kitchen and exit/entry, the highest fall risk areas in the home, or focus on rooms of your preference. We discuss which steps you may be ready to implement and which plans you may wish to hold off instituting; this can be an ongoing discussion with graded implementation. Home modifications work best when there is a collaborative relationship between the homeowner and the consultant, and when the focus is on proactive modifications! It takes real bravery to consider what the future may hold and to take steps to plan for it! Planning ahead for the curve balls that life can throw at us is the best thing you can do for yourself. Let’s work together to create a home which will support you and your loved ones through all stages of life.