Injuries can be incredibly disruptive, making even the simplest tasks at home feel impossible. While your recovery is the focus, you don’t need to overhaul your entire house to make it more accessible, but smaller, temporary home adaptations can help during the healing stage and promote independence.

Read this blog for short-term adaptation solutions as well as ideas to make your home more accessible in the long run. 

Temporary Home Adaptations For Injury Recovery: An Overview

Coping with a long recovery after an injury can be extremely stressful. For some individuals, it can turn life as they know it on its head, and they will need to learn to do things completely differently during recovery. 

Coming home after a hospital stay can offer relief in the form of familiarity, privacy, and the freedom to do what you like without needing nurses for healthcare professionals’ input. However, several areas of a home can present challenges, especially if the injury recovery includes the use of walking aids or a wheelchair.

It’s crucial that your home meets your new accessibility and mobility needs. It must be safe to move around in, ensuring you can retain your independence and dignity and remain as comfortable as possible. 

This is where temporary home adaptations for injury recovery come in.

An Occupational Therapist will help identify any changes that need to be made, but here we’ll run through some common changes we make for clients that provide the most benefit. 

Getting Around A Home

Access in and around a home is often one of the first challenges people come up against. Steps into a house, or even just a raised threshold, can present both an accessibility issue and a hazard.

Entrance And Exit

Temporary ramps are a simple solution that makes coming and going safe and easy. The benefits aren’t just limited to recovering individuals either, as temporary ramps make navigating the doorway much easier for visitors – especially those with mobility issues and pushchairs.

Unlike permanent solutions such as concrete and modular ramps, temporary ramps can quickly and easily be put in place and taken away, making them portable. There are several different types, including folding ramps, telescopic ramps and threshold ramps. Comparatively, they are much easier on the wallet, which can be desirable when mobility issues aren’t permanent.

ramp

Clear Floor Space

It will likely be necessary to reconfigure furniture in busy rooms to make them as uncluttered and open as possible. This makes for easier movement if the injured person is using crutches or a walking aid. 

Ditching rugs, or at the very least ensuring they are secure, removes or minimises trip hazards. The same goes for loose cables and any other debris. 

Grab Bars

Installing grab bars in kitchens and bathrooms where respite from standing may be needed or to help users sit down or rise up can support independence and transform comfort during recovery. 

These adaptations are cheap, quick and easy to install and extremely simple to remove when no longer needed. 

Doorways

Doorways, particularly in older homes, can be narrow and difficult to navigate. Though it might not be front of mind, temporary home adaptations for injury recovery can include removing doors around the house to provide extra width. 

For a more permanent change, door widening is the answer. Though it can be completed in a day, this process needs to be executed by a professional to ensure the integrity of the property isn’t compromised. Read more about door widening here

Bathroom Adaptations For Injury Recovery

The bathroom is a huge hazard for individuals recovering from injury because slips and falls are a big risk. 

Here are some of the most helpful temporary home adaptations for injury recovery in the bathroom.

Grab Bars

Grab bars are key to providing support for individuals who are recovering from an injury. By leaning, holding or pulling on grab bars, users can reduce the strain on their muscles and minimise pain and discomfort.

Raised Toilet Seat

Conventional toilet seats are difficult to use when mobility is limited. Raising a toilet seat lessens the work the body’s muscles have to do, making for a much more comfortable experience. 

Non-Slip Flooring

Changing slippery tiles or lino for non-slip vinyl is one of the more disruptive temporary home adaptations for injury recovery on our list, but it’s key to preventing trips and slips in the bathroom. 

Shower Seat

Standing for a long time may be challenging for someone recovering from an injury. Adding a shower seat to the bathing area provides much-needed respite. 

Significant Changes

If your current bathroom is difficult to manage, you may also consider major adaptations. 

A wet room or level access shower is a modern and convenient way to make showering more accessible. And they don’t have to look hospital-like; modern models look ultra-luxe and stylish. It’s not a temporary change, but transforming a bathroom not only makes life easier right now but also adds value to a forever home and enhances curb appeal if you plan on selling up later.

If the stairs are too hard to manage, some people decide to convert a downstairs room to a bedroom. If this is the case, you can further modify the area by adding a temporary shower and toilet pod to make the room an ensuite. This is particularly ideal for temporary wheelchair users. 

Home Adaptation Specialist Builders2

Smart Tech

There are plenty of devices on the current market that make everyday activities easier. And we don’t just mean for injury recovery!

Here are some smart tech solutions which can make daily life more convenient.

Lighting

Motion sensor lighting or lights that are programmed to preset schedules can take the stress out of manoeuvring around the home, especially in the dark. 

Smart Home Hub

Virtual assistant technology like Amazon’s Alexa can be used in combination with other smart devices to create an AI-powered home hub. Not only can Alexa respond to questions and provide information and general assistance, but it can also link to home security, heating, television, lighting and more. 

Motorised Window Coverings

Opting for motorised blinds or curtains significantly reduces the stretching and reaching needed to operate manual window coverings. 

Are You Looking For Temporary Home Adaptations For Injury Recovery?

Temporary adaptations promote independence and safety when you need to focus on rest and recovery. 

It might be difficult to prioritise which changes are necessary but don’t panic. Our comprehensive list should give you plenty of options to choose from when it comes to improving accessibility at home. 

Want to chat with someone in the know about your accessibility needs? Looking for a professional to carry out home adaptations? You’re in the right place. See our website to find out more about us.