"Access at Home" is a Reality Now Personally!
Written by Lori Rhodig, Owner and President Access at Home, Inc and People Helping Equipment on November 26, 2016
Tony and I have owned our home remodeling and equipment company, Access at Home, since 2009 that helps seniors and people with mobility disabilities to remain in their homes safely, independently, and comfortably. We are Certified Aging in Place Specialists via the Building Industry Association. We are now totally living our business both planned and unplanned.
This year, we finally convinced his parents, Chuck and Dolores, (80 and 79 years young) to sell their home of 41 years in Oregon City, OR and move closer to us in Washougal, Washington. They agreed since Chuck is suffering from dementia and a variety of other debilitating diseases. Dolores is his main caregiver who sees that all of his care needs are met on her own with some privately paid home care. She gets help with his bathing, dressing, and medications/vitamins so she can get to the gym a few mornings a week -- and just get a break or go out for more supplies. She tries to hike weekly somewhere in the Northwest with her longtime hiking group, is very healthy (no prescriptions), and fiercely independent. In September, she was totally consumed with the activities of moving from the home that sold on the day it was listed… until she took a bone breaking fall on the back deck stairs.
As CAPSs and more importantly concerned adult children of our loved ones, we talked many times in the last 5 years about the treacherous stairs in their home. They finally decided to leave their split-level entry home since there were 14 stair steps from the car / outside to the main level. Tony saw no design options for retrofitting this home given the unique layout – stair lifts and elevators were not feasible. Chuck’s medical issues made it very difficult to manage the stairs and the car, and the laundry were 14 steps below. He was becoming more isolated, withdrawn, and feeble. The hot Portland Metro real estate market made it very difficult to find a suitable home even in East Clark County. They found no single story homes in 9 months to meet their needs. Our home has all bedrooms and showers on the second floor.
We are now in the long process of designing, permitting, and building a large “in law apartment” with a master bedroom, bathroom, closet, sitting room, and covered patio all at the level of the main home. We will have nice long gradually sloping hallway to meet the level of our home from the garage and other accessibility features to help them get into our home easily and safely. The kitchen and utility rooms will be completely redone.
When Dolores fell on the deck landing and broke her femur at the hip, everything changed quickly for us in an instant. Tony took a week off to start preparing to bring them both in sooner than expected. We were already in the process of getting a temporary construction RV to our home. Tony easily found used ramp materials for the RV to home access since this is our business.
The bathroom was the challenge given that most RVs have very small bathrooms to start. We found one with a large walk-through layout. Tony replaced the 7" high threshold "tub" and shower with a larger low threshold. Safety pole, safety bar, commode riser, and 5 grab bars were strategically placed.
We are really enjoying the multi-generational living with the family. Our daughter’s relationship and experiences with her grandparents have just become exponential and more enriched. We all take care of Grandpa now. We also have a caregiver to help in the morning.
We install and de-install to ensure the quality of the ramp and components. Our ramps usually come from local company, EZ Access, in Washington state, or another US manufacturer, PVI in Nebraska.
Access at Home, Inc., services the homes, adult homes, and long-term healthcare facilities in Washington and Oregon. We are contractors and equipment specialists for keeping you or your loved one in your home safely, comfortably, and independently. We also help ensure the safety and health of the caregiver through people handling equipment.