Prepping Your Home Before Foot Surgery
At Lowe’s website Livable Home you can see an informative article explaining Prepping Your Home Before Knee Replacement Surgery. The same information can be applied to foot surgery. The goal of a more livable home is to design a home that focuses on safety and accessibility. Good home safety and accessibility are very helpful for all people but especially for individuals with disabilities, including temporary disabilities from foot surgery.
The article was written by AARP and provided to Lowe’s for the Livable Home website. If you’re about to undergo significant foot surgery, such as for a broken bone or ruptured tendon, the surgeon has probably told you that full recovery could take 6-12 months. For an easier recovery, experts recommend taking the following steps to prepare your home before surgery. These ideas shown below are designed to help home occupants, visitors, and caregivers ease the burden of recovery from significant foot surgery.
Create a first-floor sleeping space.
Prepare a recovery area.
Preorder medical equipment such as crutches, a knee scooter, or a wheel chair.
Prepare your bathroom for use by someone disabled.
Stock up on ice packs for the foot.
Declutter the home, especially along walking paths.
Clean the home thoroughly.
Stock your freezer with meals ready-to-eat.
Line up help to do the things you use to do yourself.
If still employed, set up a plan for working from the home.
Not mentioned in the AARP/Lowe’s article is having a plan for getting from the surgery center back to your home. Most people are not prepared for this important step in the recovery process. Some thoughts to consider follow:
Coordinate with your doctor and the surgery center staff to make sure the handoff to your vehicle to return home is ready.
Will you need a wheelchair, or just crutches?
Will your vehicle accommodate an individual with a foot that needs to be elevated?
How will you get from the vehicle into your home?
Do you have someone who can drive you to/from the surgery and help you get back into the home?
After the initial recovery, there will come a need for vehicular mobility. Going back to the doctor for checkups, going in for physical therapy, maybe going in to work, or other needs like getting groceries. Obviously your ability to drive a car will depend on which foot was operated on and how far along you are in recovery. If you cannot drive yourself, you will need assistance.
If you are going to be using your own vehicle, another helpful idea is to coordinate before surgery for a temporary Disabled Parking Placard for your vehicle. Normally there is a form to fill out that has to be signed by your doctor to have the Disabled Parking Placard approved and mailed to you. This can easily take a week. Having the Disabled Parking Placard for your vehicle can be very helpful even if your time of being disabled is temporary.
A more accessible home will make recovering from foot surgery easier. Creating a safer and more accessible home should involve Universal Design (UD). The principles of UD contribute to the convenience and function of products and home spaces by making products and spaces safer, easier to use and, more accessible. The ten ideas above help. For additional information about UD please see Universal Design.
Careful planning is important to creating a safer and more accessible home using UD. A safer and more accessible home should include aging-in-place considerations, such as those shown above.
Universal Design is a key part of aging-in-place home modifications. A Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) is trained in the application of UD for home modifications to help aging and disabled individuals remain in their homes longer. CAPS consultants and UD incorporate the principles of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Fair Housing Act (FHA) into residential home design and modifications.
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Richard Acree is a CAPS consultant with many years of experience as a home inspector and accessibility inspector. For more information about aging-in-place services please see Residential Accessibility.
Please call 615-752-0060 or email at inspections4ada@gmail.com for help with aging-in-place home modifications for you or your loved one.
Thank you.
DISCLAIMER: This article is not an endorsement or recommendation to buy or use any product or service offered or provided by Lowe’s, AARP, or any other company or vendor. Consumers and contractors should do their own due diligence to determine what product or service best meets their needs.