Rehab centers can be the core contributor to recovery for many people facing life’s challenges. After entering the doors of a rehab center, patients know that pain and struggle may lie ahead on their path to wellness. Consequently, any features that can enhance and improve the life of the patients can go a long way to improving their rehab experience.
Safe Surfaces
Being able to navigate within the rehab center is a prime consideration. Because many rehab patients are using mobility aids, walkways and other surfaces, need to be adapted to their use. Textured or rubber-covered surfaces can provide more traction for wheelchairs, walkers, and crutches.
The slant of the walkways should also be considered. A low degree of slant is preferred so wheelchair and walker users can easily negotiate the uphill grade of ramps and sidewalks.
Outdoor approaches to the facility should be designed so that water doesn’t collect on the level surfaces. Likewise, outdoor approaches in colder climates should be designed and adapted so that snow and ice do not collect in front of the doors and on access paths and ramps.
Easy Access
Access to areas, rooms and doors should be easy and instinctive, even to those with the most severe physical challenges. Handrails should be placed so that those who are in wheelchairs can grasp them as easily as those patients who walk.
Door handles should be easy to operate as well. The SOSS UltraLatch offers an innovative, easy-to-use and ADA compliant door latch for patients with limitations of the hand, wrist or arm. For the sight-challenged, signs with large print and good contrast should be used to help indicate the way through hallways and to reception areas and dining rooms.
Color and Music
Warm colors combined with music that both uplifts and soothes can increase the sense of well-being in a rehab center. Patients feel better when the atmosphere is nurturing and welcoming. Cheery colors and seasonal holiday decorations contribute a great deal to making a rehab center a place of possibilities and hope. Because the atmosphere can help the attitude of a patient, providing a positive and warm environment is extremely important.
Rehab centers have rapidly become a place that more and more people visit, whether they are entering a center as a patient or as a family member or friend who is supporting a patient. To improve on rehab centers of the past, new designs are offering many features that contribute to the healing of their residents and patients.
The small touches of comfort and convenience may not always be the most evident, but they may contribute the most to the patient’s overall sense of wellness.