The house has to work for two people now

What is caregiver home adaptation?

Caregiver home adaptation changes a house so that the person providing care can do it safely and sustainably - enough room to stand and work on both sides of a bed, transfers that do not depend on lifting, storage for supplies that is not the dining table, and somewhere for the carer to sleep and be off duty. It is a workplace as well as a home now, and treating it as one is what makes the arrangement last.

How caregiver home adaptation actually works

1. 1

   Look at the arrangement as work, and be honest about the lifting

   Which transfers happen, how many times a day, and how they are being done. Manual lifting of an adult is the activity that ends care arrangements and injures carers, and where it is happening regularly the answer is usually equipment and training rather than effort.

   Watch forA family that has quietly normalised lifting. Ask a clinician or an occupational therapist to look at the actual transfers - it is a specific competence and it is available.

2. 2

   Get working space on both sides of the bed

   A bed against a wall forces a helper to work one-handed at an awkward angle. Pulling it out, and clearing enough room either side to stand square and use both hands, is free, immediate and one of the most effective changes available.

   Watch forA layout preserved because of where the sockets are. Move the socket rather than running a lead under the floor covering; that lead is a hazard for both of them.

3. 3

   Make the bathroom work for two people

   Somewhere for a helper to stand outside the water, a shower approach that does not require leaning over a tub wall, an outward-opening or sliding door so a fall does not block it, and controls reachable from where the helper actually is.

   Watch forA hinged glass enclosure. It looks better than a curtain and it narrows the opening and blocks assistance - which is the opposite of what this room now needs.

4. 4

   Give the equipment and supplies a home

   Dressings, medication, gloves, incontinence supplies, a hoist, a spare chair. Left without a place they colonise the living space, which is demoralising for everybody and makes things hard to find. A closet, a cabinet or a converted alcove near where care happens is worth more than it costs.

   Watch forMedication stored where a visiting grandchild can reach it, or where the person themselves may take a dose twice. Storage here is a safety question as well as a tidiness one.

5. 5

   Protect the carer's sleep and their own space

   Somewhere with a door that closes, a proper bed, and - if listening at night is necessary - a monitor or sensor so it does not require lying awake. Rest is not a luxury in this situation; it is what determines whether the arrangement is still viable in a year.

   Watch forA carer sleeping in the same room indefinitely because it started that way in a crisis. Revisit it once things have settled; it is usually solvable.

6. 6

   Keep privacy and dignity for both people

   A door that closes on the bathroom, a way to be in the house without being observed, and a space each that is not the care space. This matters as much for the relationship as for the practicalities, and family carers routinely deprioritise it.

   Watch forMonitoring installed for convenience that leaves someone feeling watched in their own home. Ask them; there is nearly always a less intrusive way to answer the same question.

7. 7

   Plan for the door, the hallway and the exit

   Paramedics, professional carers, delivered equipment and a hospital bed all have to get in. A route from the street to the bed that takes a stretcher, and doors that take equipment, are worth checking before you need them.

   Watch forA downstairs room converted for care with no thought about how a stretcher would get in or out. It is discovered at the worst possible time.

8. 8

   Build in relief before it is urgent

   A space that works for a respite carer or a professional agency - somewhere to wash their hands, clear instructions, accessible supplies, a way in - makes bringing help in far easier. Households that arrange this early use it; households that leave it until crisis often cannot.

   Watch forA house set up so that only one person knows how anything works. Write it down and make the space usable by someone else, for everyone's sake.

What does caregiver home adaptation cost?

A large share of this costs nothing - moving furniture, clearing space, changing a door swing. The paid items are usually a bathroom door change, storage, a bedroom conversion, or equipment such as a hoist or a profiling bed, some of which may be available through care services. See the Cost Guide.

See the full caregiver home adaptation cost guide - by material, size and region →

If the number is the problem, here are the ways people pay for it →