Kitchen Designs For People With Challenges

There are many changes that may be made to a kitchen to enable a less mobile person to lead a fuller life. Instead of regular shelves, use pull-out shelves or storage bins. Cabinet knobs should be replaced with pull handles. A stove with front controls is particularly helpful to those in a wheelchair. Increasing the height of the dishwasher by about six inches will make a big difference in its usability for someone in a wheelchair. If there is a table in the kitchen, it is more helpful to have one with a central stand rather than four legs at the corners to allow wheelchair access or simply to avoid bumping into the table legs. An important exception to this rule is if the user places a lot of body weight at the table edge, for example to lean or pull up on. Additionally, mobile units such as kitchen carts can be very helpful to push items from one part of the kitchen to another.

Electrical changes in the kitchen should not be overlooked - lighting changes may significantly improve vision, especially early in the morning or late at night. Addition of automatic sensors or timer shut-offs to taps and extractor hoods can reduce repetition of tasks that might seem simple to the able-bodied but which require constant additional effort on the part of the disabled. Washing food, hands or dishes is probably one of the most frequent tasks that take place in the kitchen, so installation of lever taps rather than turn taps will also make for easier living.

It is wise to seek the advice of a certified kitchen planner (with experience designing for the disabled) before making changes. This is because they will be better able to suggest what changes should be made for the needs of the particular individual. Additionally, they will have a strong idea of the costs involved, which is especially important if not all the desired changes are financially able to be accomplished at once. A certified kitchen planner will be able to give guidance as to which changes need to be strongly prioritized up-front, for example those that are for safety reasons.

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