Below are suggestions about considerations that you should make throughout your home before you return following your stroke. Especially if you are in a wheelchair, you may need to make modifications that require professional installation. Other pieces of advice apply to homeowners in any situation.

Doorways

• Entryways and hallways should have a 32-inch clearance to accommodate people in wheelchairs. When doors do not open as wide as hinges were designed, application of a lubricant allows the hinges to work as they were designed. This extra space can allow a person using a wheelchair or walker to fit through the doorway. The edges of a swelled door may need to be shaved to allow for extra space as well.

• Stroke survivors who are unable to grasp with their fingers or twist their wrists to open doors can use a downward movement of their fist to open lever door handles more easily than regular doorknobs. The location of the knob may need to be moved as well.

• Swing away hinges, folding doors, or pocket doors can make passage through doors less difficult. To provide more space or clearance in doorways, doors between rooms can be removed.

• Uneven threshold should be fixed or changed to prevent tripping and allow easier wheelchair access. A portable ramp is often an affordable solution.

• It may be necessary or helpful to place blue pads on chairs that the stroke survivor sits in for long periods of time. Blue pads are pads, often washable and reusable, with a cloth and waterproof side to prevent staining on furniture. They can be covered with a blanket or cloth to be made unnoticeable.

• To allow for movement in a wheelchair, furniture may need to be moved and thick rugs may need to be replaced. Rugs should be moved unless they are sufficiently secured to the floor with some sort of non-skid tape. Electrical cords should be free from pathways as well.