Housing Association Adaptation for Rozina

AKW, together with Gloucester City Homes, transformed the home of Rozina who needed accessible accommodation to enable her to live independently and to pursue her education and career.

Rozina had lived in a Neurological Unit for two and a half years, and the care team that looked after her were having difficulty finding a suitable home within the community. Rozina was keen to live independently, although various houses and flats had become available, issues regarding wheelchair access had unfortunately made them unsuitable for her.

Rozina explained, "I needed a place where I could function, but still be a young person and have my friends over. The flat needed to meet my medical and physical needs but not look and feel like a clinical environment or be adapted to a point where it would be impractical for my friends, family and care team."

Kenny Thomson (Gloucester City Homes Occupational Therapist) and his team eventually found a suitable flat that would allow her to live independently and provide the amount of space she needed to store her stand aid, swings, wheelchair and other equipment whilst still having enough room to entertain her friends and family. However, the kitchen and bathroom required some significant adaptations made in order for them to fulfil her needs.

One of AKW’s surveyors made recommendations on the solutions that could be provided and Gloucester City Homes selected a full AKW specification for the property. Kenny said, "We chose AKW due to their adaptability, level of service, and the wide range of products. Their support is phenomenal.”

Rozina was keen to be a part of the entire process, visiting several times during the build and was involved in choosing elements such as the work surfaces, flooring, doors and handles, in order to make the space her own.

The kitchen was fitted with AKW's Activmotion® Rise and Fall cupboards allowing Rozina to bring them down to countertop level. An Activmotion Rise and Fall sink was also fitted allowing her to adjust the height of the sink to whatever is comfortable for her. Rozina commented, “I can adjust the sink to the height of whichever wheelchair I am using on a particular day and also adjust the height for the carers within seconds.”

In the bathroom, AKW installed an iCare electric shower, allowing Rozina to adjust the temperature of the water herself. The bathroom also contains AKW wall boards and Tuff Form former and bidet seat.

Michael Hill, Director of Property Services at Gloucester City Homes, who carry out approximately 120 adaptations of this kind every year added, “at Gloucester City Homes we always aim to ensure that our properties meet the needs of our tenants and will continue to focus on creating homes that allow our tenants to live independently. This is a great success story and we are thrilled that Rozina can now live in a home that makes her life easier.”

Kenny Thomson added, "I'm just pleased to be part of the team that has put all of this together for her and made it happen" - Kenny Thomson (Gloucester City Homes Occupational Therapist).”

James Dadd, AKW’s Marketing Director added “At AKW, it’s not all just about the products. At the heart of everything we do here at AKW is focussed toward our customers. We get a huge amount of satisfaction in seeing the solutions that our products provide for the end users; to help in their day to day quality of life and independence and it never fails to hit home to us just how much the end users appreciate the positive outcomes that these adaptations have helped make.”