Adapting the Home
General adaptations
Simple changes can be made in your home to improve safety and the ability to complete daily activities with vision deficits.
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Lighting: Adjustments to lighting can help symptoms of blurred vision, poor depth perception, or impaired color perception.
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Allow natural light whenever possible.
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Increase room lighting and personal space lighting when needed in darker areas.
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Clutter: Reducing clutter is important for safety with vision deficits such as a visual field deficit, visual neglect, oculomotor deficits, or poor depth perception.
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Remove clutter on floors to avoid tripping hazards.
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Decreasing clutter may also make it easier to find needed items.
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Space arrangement: The arrangement of furniture can also impact safety for deficits in visual field loss, neglect, depth perception, and oculomotor changes.
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Arrange furniture to allow easy navigating through hallways, around corners, and around furniture.
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Remove throw rugs that cause tripping or get caught on walking devices or wheelchairs.
Places in the Home
Kitchen
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Keep pantry and refrigerator organized by size and type of food
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Label items in pantry and refrigerator using colors and letter size that is easy are easy to see
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Keep frequently used items in easily accessible places and consistently in the same place​
​Click the following links for more help on organizing your kitchen and cooking safety.
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Organization​: https://visionaware.org/everyday-living/home-modification/room-by-room/kitchen/
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Cooking: https://visionaware.org/everyday-living/essential-skills/cooking/
What About Your Home?
Reflect on the suggestions above and decide if any of these apply to your home.
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Take the home evaluation questionnaire:
https://visionaware.org/everyday-living/home-modification/home-evaluation/
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Can you identify at least 3 vision safety risks in your home? Make a list of these risks for further exploration to make needed changes.