How to Design Kitchens for Disabled Women
Your home doesn't have to feel sterile in order to be wheelchair accessible. In fact, adapting your kitchen to family members with disabilities will make for a more pleasant, enjoyable experience for everyone. Whether your loved one uses a walker, relies on a wheelchair or simply has trouble bending and stooping, there are a number of changes you can make to turn what used to be a formidable kitchen into an inviting room of the house. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Widen the doorways. For a wheelchair-bound woman, just getting through the kitchen door can be a challenge. In order to provide ample clearance, the inner door frame should measure 32 inches across when the door is open at a 90-degree angle. Round door knobs can be difficult to grasp and turn, so replace them with a lever-style handle for easy entry.
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Create usable workspace. One of the most difficult parts of designing a wheelchair-friendly kitchen is making usable counter space. First, counters should be installed at a height that makes them easy to reach from a seated position, usually about 32 inches. Second, there should be at least one countertop or other work area that provides legroom underneath, allowing the individual to roll directly up to the counter instead of having to reach from a parallel position. This workspace will allow for easy food preparation without straining or injury.
For a woman using a walker, counter height should allow her to work without bending or stooping. This height will vary depending on the woman's height.
Alternatively, you may wish to install a 3 ft wide counter section with hooks on the back that attach to adjustable heavy duty shelf brackets. These are ideal for a woman with deteriorating health that is currently using a walker but may need a wheelchair in the future.
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Make the storage accessible. Women using walkers will find it easiest to reach the lower shelves of a kitchen's upper cabinets, so keep the most important items there. For women using a wheelchair, keep the majority of the food and cooking items in the lower cabinets, or in a wheelchair accessible pantry.
Regardless of the type of disability, proper shelf organization will minimize strain. Install pull-out shelves and lazy Susans in deep cabinets to make the contents easy to reach. Keep supplies near the area where they'll be used. For example, storing pots and pans in the cabinet beside the stove will keep your loved one from having to move heavy cooking equipment from one part of the kitchen to the next.
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Install a shallow sink. This is one area where wheelchair and walker uses will agree. Most women in a wheelchair find it difficult to reach the bottom of a sink that's deeper than about 6 inches. On the other hand, shallow sinks prevent those who use walkers from having to bend excessively. Also, a detachable faucet head with a 3-foot hose makes it easy to fill pots without having to lift them.
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Design a safe stove area. The stove is one of the most dangerous parts of the kitchen for a disabled woman. Installing at least 2 feet of heat resistant countertops on one side of the stove will allow her to slide hot food off the range instead of risking a spill by lifting it. For this reason, smooth stovetops, instead of those with exterior burners, are the best option.
To make checking food simple, purchase glass cookware or hang a mirror at an angle from the wall behind the oven. That way, it'll be easy for her to see when food is boiling.
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References
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