Adaptive equipment or home modifications / remodeling – which is the best solution for people struggling with mobility in and around the home? When making a home accessible, our team helps clients explore adaptive equipment that can be installed to overcome mobility barriers, as well as remodeling projects. In some cases, modifying a home is unavoidable because, for example, if a wheelchair doesn’t fit through the narrow entrance of a bathroom door, remodeling will absolutely come into play. Whenever possible, however, adaptive equipment may be a better fit, if very little change is required to the design and layout of a home. This comparison skews more towards bathrooms, which is the area of the home in which moving around is the most difficult because bathrooms are most always small.
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Factors |
Adaptive Equipment |
Home Modifications (Remodeling) |
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This comparison serves as a guide and Accessible Systems highly recommends consulting with one of our certified accessibility specialists to determine if adaptive equipment is better than home modifications/construction projects, or if both are required. Sometimes, construction is unavoidable.
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 Bellavita hydraulic bathtub lift |
 Bathroom remodel before and after |
| Types: |
Adaptive equipment includes:
- Modular ramps – to make entering/exiting a home easier
- Stair lifts – to move up and down levels in a home easier, safer
- Wheelchair/scooter lifts – for users that rely on wheels for day-to-day mobility
- Ceiling lifts – to help with transfers from chair to bed, to a bathing or toileting area, living area and back again
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 Ceiling lift
- TubBuddy and ShowerBuddy – a transfer chair that rolls over toilets & slides over shower and bathtub barriers
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 TubBuddy system for transfers
- Hydraulic bathtub lifts – a great substitution for a walk-in tub
- Toilevator – raises the height of a standard toilet by 3.5 inches to make sitting and rising easier
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 Toilevator raises a toilet seat height
- SuperPole – handhold poles that can be installed/removed with ease most anywhere in a home to help with rising and are great bed-, bathtub- and toilet-side
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 The Superpole
- Toilet incline lift – motorized equipment that attaches to an existing toilet and aids with sitting and rising
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 Toilet incline lift
- Sliding bath bench – allows for easy entry into a shower or bathtub and prevents tripping
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 Sliding bathtub bench
- PT Rails – helps with grip and can be installed around a toilet or next to stairs from a garage entrance
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 PT Rails
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Home Modifications may include:
- Door widening – to allow easier access for wheelchair users
- Bathtub to walk-in tub or open shower conversions – eliminates having to step into a tub
- Installation of permanent railings, grab bars and other handholds – to help with fall prevention
- Lowering of shelves – to make reaching daily necessities easier
- Custom accessibility ramps made of wood or concrete – to allow easier access to a home and that matches the design of a home
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| Comparison: |
3 Benefits from the installation of home adaptive equipment:
1. Equipment is installed quickly, sometimes from same day or from one day to the next. This is great for when CHANGE happens!
2. Equipment is typically less expensive than construction and can be adapted to most any home’s existing design.
3. Equipment can follow a user, meaning it can be moved from one location to another. It often helps people remain in their dwelling, versus having to move. |
There are many challenges to home modification/construction projects, such as:
- Long wait period due to permits that may be required and the craft of the work itself, which wouldn’t work for someone discharging from a hospital TOMORROW, for example.
- Construction projects are expensive and building materials only keep getting more costly.
- It’s hard to undo home modifications once they are completed.
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