It’s high time that kitchens are adapted to functionally respond to the UK’s changing demographics, argues Mike Turner, executive director of kitchen specialists Ian Williams.
Living conditions in social homes has improved significantly since the introduction of the Decent Homes Programme in the early 2000s, with hundreds of thousands of tenants enjoying the benefits of modernised homes today. Kitchens – arguably one of the most important rooms in any household – were the most refurbished areas in a home in 2014/2015 in England, with over 76,000 kitchens undergoing renovations worth £320m, or about £4,200 per home. While work carried out through Decent Homes brought about essential home improvements, the focus of refurbishments is now shifting towards the varying needs of UK’s ageing population.
The impact of ageing
Life expectancy in Britain has risen sharply over the last century along with the size of the population. There are currently 11.6 million people aged over 65 in the UK, a number that is expected to rise to 15.5 million in 2030 and hit 19 million by 2050.
In parallel, older people’s health is often poorer than that of the rest of the population. An estimated four million over-65’s have a limiting longstanding illness, and half of the 10 million disabled people in Britain are over state pension age. Dementia is also becoming more widespread with no sign of slowing.
These statistics make for sombre reading, especially as many older people wish to remain independent, and as long as they can do so, they are not being a strain on external services. The good news is that there are many steps that local authorities, RSLs and property service experts can take to ensure kitchens in particular are appropriately planned and designed to address current needs, but most importantly that they are also future-proofed.
Practical solutions
Kitchens, with hot appliances, sharp kitchen utensils and cabinets set at head height, can hide many potential dangers for residents. However, there are a number of adaptive designs and solutions to help mitigate such risks.
These include:
• Installing pull-down baskets in wall units
• Adding spring-loaded drawer fronts and cupboard doors
• Placing carousels in corner units
• Incorporating recessed handles, non-slip floor surfaces, hand rails and grab rails
Some people find it helpful to be able to sit down while preparing food, so having a worktop set at an appropriate height with space underneath for a chair can be helpful. The intelligent use of lighting can also be utilised in the form of strip lights under cabinets or additional lighting in fridge and freezer compartments.
Creating a colour contrast is also helpful to those with vision problems. One way this can be achieved is the installation of darker handles or knobs on lighter kitchen doors or drawers. Another option could be to implement solid gloss colours rather than matt or patterned finishes to reduce glare on kitchen worktops.
Sensitive approach
In partnership with an experienced property services partner, landlords would be able to implement a range of practical solutions. The way in which these solutions are delivered however is just as important, especially when working in older or vulnerable people’s homes.
The Ian Williams teams work across 20,000 older people’s properties, including in sheltered, extra-care and supported schemes, every year, and there is ample evidence that such work requires a sensitive customer service approach. In a bid to share this experience with the industry, the company teamed up with national consortium for older people’s housing and support Erosh to produce the Sensitive contractors’ Guide – a document devised in response to housing professionals who needed contractors to better understand how to sensitively carry out work at the premises of older or vulnerable people.
The guide includes information on topics such as:
• Communicating with dementia sufferers
• Understanding hoarding
• Reducing the stress of change for those with mental health issues
In light of increasing concerns about the safeguarding of vulnerable people, the guide looks at ways to a enhance contractors’ role in reporting issues identified when visiting people in their homes. There is also an 11-point guide to help companies understand what consideration they should make at each stage of a major improvement, such as a kitchen upgrade. With these guidelines in place, maintenance teams have a vital opportunity to improve the experience of older people who open up their homes for major refurbishments.
Mike Turner is executive director at Ian Williams.