Adapting a home for an older or disabled person

You may need to adapt your home:

• So you can continue to live there as you get older
• If you or a family member has a disability

Some common changes that can help make your home more suitable for someone with a disability or limited mobility include:

• Widening the doorways and passageways in your home
• Moving your light switches, door handles and doorbells to convenient heights
• Installing grab rails for support
• Adapting your bathroom facilities. For example, you might remove your bath and install a level access shower.
• Moving your bathroom or bedroom to the ground floor
• Installing ramps to replace steps
• Making sure that the entrances to your house, such as paths or drives have a firm, level surface
• Installing a stairlift or through-floor lift so you can continue to use all floors in your home
• Getting specialised furniture, like an adjustable bed or high-support chair
• Installing alert devices if you are deaf or hard of hearing

In case of a fire or other emergencies, exits should always be accessible and you should not rely only on mechanical means (such as a lift) to get out.

Getting advice from an occupational therapist

Before making changes to your home you should meet with an occupational therapist (OT). They will assess your situation including your mobility and your daily living activities. They will then suggest changes you can make to make your home easier and safer to live in. If you are a medical card holder, the occupational therapist may also be able to provide aids and appliances from the HSE. You can contact a public OT in the community care section of your Local Health Office.

Alternatively, you can hire an OT privately, as there can be a waiting list for the public OT service. The Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland (AOTI) has a directory of OTs in private practice. If you get a grant for the adaptations you need to make to your home, you may be able to get back some of the costs of hiring a private OT.

Getting advice from a public health nurse or physiotherapist

Other health professionals, such as public health nurses and physiotherapists, can also advise you on specialised equipment and home adaptations, based on both your short-term and long-term needs.

Getting advice from a Healthy Age Friendly Homes Coordinator

The Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme supports older people to live independently in their homes for as long as possible.

Every local authority has a Healthy Age Friendly Homes Coordinator. The coordinator can complete a free home-based assessment with you to find out what supports could help you to continue to live independently. They then link you to the supports that are offered in your area from public, voluntary, private and community agencies.

A Healthy Age Friendly Homes Coordinator can also provide information and advice on:

• Housing: including home adaptations, rightsizing, home sharing and decluttering
• Medical: for example, GP visits, illness specific supports, transport to hospital appointments and home help
• Technology: including digital training, connectivity supports, personal alarms, panic buttons and assistive technology
• Community: such as Meals on Wheels, social activities, befriending, community groups, libraries and physical activity
• Energy: including retrofitting your home, grants to make your home more energy efficient, BER assessments, home heating advice
• Financial: such as bills, carer's supports, pensions and Local Property Tax

To access the programme you must:

• Be over 65
• Complete the referral form

You can refer yourself to the programme, or someone else can refer you, so long as you have given your consent.

See Healthy Age Friendly Homes Programme for more information.

Planning permission

If you need to add a structure or an extra room to make your home more accessible, you may need to apply to your local authority for planning permission.

Generally, you do not need planning permission for minor changes to your house. However, you should check if you need planning permission before you start any building work. Your local authority can advise you if you have questions.

Adapting your home may be expensive, particularly if you need to make structural changes. There are several ways to get help with the cost:

• You may qualify for a means-tested Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability. The maximum grant is €30,000.
• For smaller changes, such as grab rails, exterior handrails or a stairlift, the Mobility Aids Grant Scheme provides a maximum grant of €6,000. This grant is also means-tested.
• The Housing Aid for Older Persons Scheme is used to improve the condition of an older person's home. The type of work that is covered depends on your local authority and may include structural repairs, re-wiring and upgrades to heating systems. For information on what is covered in your area, contact your local authority.
• You may qualify for a local authority home improvement loan to improve, repair or extend your home.
• If you have a medical card or a long-term illness card, you may be able to get essential items of equipment for free. First, you must be assessed by a relevant professional, such as an occupational therapist or a physiotherapist.
• If you are buying equipment needed for someone with a disability, you may be able to claim a VAT refund.
• Depending on the work being done, you may qualify for the Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme, the Better Energy Homes Scheme or the National Home Energy Upgrade Scheme.

You should check to see if you qualify for any of these schemes. If you do, you should apply and get approval before beginning any work. You should also check how the different schemes and grants interact with each other.

The Disabled Living Foundation (DLF) in the UK publishes factsheets on adapting your home and information on daily living equipment such as features to look for when choosing equipment.

The Age Friendly Homes website provides information for older people on housing. It includes information on adapting an existing home, new accessible homes, housing grants, housing design as well as housing policy and research.

If you are visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, organisations such as Vision Ireland and Chime, the National Charity for Deafness and Hearing Loss offer advice on what you can do to make your home safer and more suitable for you.

Age Action provides services, support, advice and information specifically for older people.

The Irish Wheelchair Association can provide information and advice on changes to make your home more wheelchair-friendly. The IWA has also published Best Practice Access Guidelines: Designing Accessible Environments which has technical details on how to build or create an accessible environment.

The National Disability Authority also has a set of guidelines on accessibility, called Building for Everyone. These guidelines show how buildings can be designed, built and managed so that they are accessible to everyone.