BC Housing is there to help eligible individuals and households by providing financial assistance to make your home safer and help you function with greater ease and independence. BC Housing wants to help you age in place. The Rebate for Accessible Home Adaptation program is available to those people with permanent disabilities or those who have lost functional abilities. Certain new adaptations require an Occupational Therapist (OT) Assessment to be completed as part of your application. Design 4 Accessibility can help you by assessing your home, either in person (adhering to Covid-19 precautions) or virtually if need be.
RAHA is set up to provide funds to a maximum ($17,500 per lifetime) to install items and equipment such as:
easy to use door levers, replacing round door handles that are hard to grip. program to keep you at home, safely
grab bars (up to three) in the bathroom so that you can hold on with a firm grip while stepping in and out of your bathtub/shower, or reaching down to wash your feet, or sitting right down into the tub and strategically placed for you to grab onto to pull yourself out of the tub
a higher toilet to ease the strain on your knees when you are moving from standing to sitting and then getting up.
installation of multi-cue fire/carbon monoxide alarms to help you better see and simultaneously hear the alarm - this way you know for sure you are at risk.
installation of drawer glides that help you more effortlessly pull out those drawers and reducing the needed reach to obtain those items stored ( especially heavy items!)
Installation of non- slip flooring which is especially important in those areas of the house where water and other juicy or squishable matter can send you into a trip or slip.
There is an "other" category, were the OT can inform BC Housing of additional recommended adaptations. I would include a rationale that indicates how the adaptation will provide you with additional opportunities for independence and safety, e.g., changing lighting. These other recommended adaptations are based on approval by BC Housing.
If you have questions let me know.