Housing and welfare
Welfare means well-being: being safe, healthy and able to live with dignity. A home is the base of welfare. When a home does not fit a person, it can cause falls, stress and loneliness.
- Older people may have weak legs, poor eyesight or need a wheelchair.
- Some people have a disability from birth or after an accident.
- Everyone gets older, so every home may need to change one day.
Welfare housing has three parts: a safe and suitable house, support services (care visits, equipment, advice) and affordability (cost families can manage, with help from the community or government where available).
Barrier-free living space
A barrier is anything that stops, harms or confuses a person. Barrier-free (accessible) design removes barriers. Universal design goes one step further: it makes things easy for everyone from the start.
- Level entrance or ramp: remove steps. A ramp rises about 1 cm for every 12 cm of length (slope 1:12). A 15 cm step needs 15 × 12 = 180 cm of ramp.
- Wide doors: at least 80 cm clear opening. Sliding doors are easiest because they need no swing space.
- Floors: no small steps between rooms, non-slip finish, no loose rugs.
- Handrails: on stairs, ramps and corridors, about 75 cm high, easy to grip.
- Toilet and bathroom: grab bars, a seat, space to turn a wheelchair, a floor that dries.
- Switches, sockets, handles: at a height anyone can reach; lever handles instead of knobs.
- Light and colour: bright, even light; strong colour contrast on edges of steps; night lights on the path to the toilet.
Renovation planning practice
To plan a renovation (reforming) of a home for a person, follow steps:
- Listen to the person and family: what is hard? what do they want to keep doing?
- Measure the home and draw a plan (see the interior design lesson).
- List barriers room by room: entrance, door, floor, bathroom, kitchen, bedroom.
- Choose changes and put them in order: safety first, then comfort.
- Estimate cost and time. Ask whether a grant or support exists. Choose simple, cheap fixes first (grab bars, lighting, remove rugs).
- Do the work with a trusted builder. Keep the living space safe during work.
- Review after use: does it really help? Adjust.
Try it: walk through your own home pretending you use a wheelchair or a walking stick. Write every barrier you meet and one fix for each.
Key formulas and definitions
- Ramp length = 12 × step height (slope 1:12)
- Door clear width ≥ 80 cm · handrail height ≈ 75 cm
- Barrier-free = remove barriers · Universal design = easy for all from the start
- Renovation steps: listen → measure → list barriers → choose → cost → do → review
Worked examples
1. A step is 10 cm high. How long must a 1:12 ramp be?
Length = 12 × 10 = 120 cm = 1.2 m.
2. An entrance is 30 cm above the ground. Find the ramp length. Is it practical?
Length = 12 × 30 = 360 cm = 3.6 m. It is long, so it may need a turn or a landing; otherwise the space in front of the house must be large.
3. A wheelchair is 65 cm wide and the door is 70 cm. Is the door good enough?
The chair fits with only 5 cm to spare, and hands on the wheels will hit the frame. The door should be at least 80 cm clear, so it needs widening.
4. List four low-cost changes to make a bathroom safer for an older person.
Fix grab bars beside the toilet and the bath, put a non-slip mat or tiles, add a shower seat, and fit a bright light with a night light.
Common mistakes
- Making a ramp too steep to save space. Steeper than 1:12 is hard and unsafe to climb or to roll down.
- Fitting a wide door but leaving a high threshold at the bottom.
- Thinking barrier-free only helps disabled people. It helps older people, parents with prams and children too.
- Putting grab bars on a tile with weak fixing. They must be fixed to a strong wall.