Modifying Your Home
Kitchens
Limited Reach
Limited reach, hand and arm strength, dexterity, ability to stand, height: Can mom or dad reach high above their head or pick up items on the ground? Are you concerned about ability to grasp? What about height? As people age they lose inches from their stature. They may also lose their ability to stand for long periods, or lose their ability to stand entirely. Many daily living tasks become disheartening for an aging adult without easy access to daily necessities.
Learn more about common kitchen problems
Kitchen Solutions
- Maneuvering space at doors: If in-swinging door obstructs a bathroom or kitchen fixture, use offset hinges, swing door out, hinge door on opposite jamb or widen doorway
- Increase the number of electrical outlets for additional lighting and alarm indicators, especially in bedrooms
- Clear floor space in kitchen with a minimum 60-inch turning circle
- Lever faucet
- Handles, not knobs, on cabinets and drawers
- Adaptable cabinets to reveal knee space
- Easy-grip utensils
- Accessible appliances
- Reachers
Kitchen Assessment
| Do you have trouble........ |
Solutions to Consider |
| Accessing cabinets and appliances? |
- Moveable cabinets
- Home modification for accessibility
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| Trouble gripping your utensils? |
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| Standing on hard surfaces forlong periods of time? |
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| Negotiating the transport of food or dishes to and from the table? |
- Walker trays and accessories
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