By John Groe
When you’re a healthy young or middle-aged adult without any physical limitations, you might not think much about accessibility.
But in truth, accessibility is a vital part of everyone’s life. At some point it will be important for the people in your world, and possibly for you, to be able to get around without bodily limitations. People age. People have surgery. People suffer sports injuries. It happens. It’s part of life.
According to Statistics Canada, about 22 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or over – about 6.2 million people – have one or more disabilities. That number is expected to rise substantially in the next five to 10 years.
There are so many ways to make your home accessible, from grab bars to wider doorways that accommodate wheelchairs and walkers; to stairlifts, touchless door openers, vertical platform lifts, thoughtfully-placed railings, and more.
Some solutions are expensive; some can be supplemented with government grants. Some are low-cost – for example, removing storm or screen doors, using swing-away hinges, adding grab bars, removing carpet where possible.
Accessible Daily Living (ADL) is a company that is dedicated to transforming homes and, ultimately, lives.
Emilia recently hired ADL to make her home safer and easier for her husband.
“It has changed not only my husband’s quality of living,” she said, “but our entire family’s life as well.”
ADL works closely with clients to create a customized solution that fits their needs and budget.
It provides industry-leading assessments that accurately determine the factors that limit your accessibility, and provide safe, cost-effective solutions.
It also works with occupational therapists, personal injury lawyers, social workers, adjusters, case managers, funding agencies, product providers, architects and engineers.
ADL makes it happen. It just takes a phone call to start the process.
John Groe is CEO and Accessibility Consultant at Accessible Daily Living.