Equipment

There are many different types of equipment and adaptations available to help people with disabilities live independently and safely at home.

What are equipment and adaptations?

Adaptations

If you are a person with disabilities, having adaptations made to your home can help you to continue to live independently and carry out everyday tasks. Adaptations usually mean structural changes are needed to your home such as:

• replacing a bath with a walk in shower or fitting an over-bath shower.
• adapting your home for wheelchair use (e.g. widening doors, installing a ramp).

Equipment

Special equipment can be provided that does not require any alterations to your home, or to be fitted by a specialist. This can include walking aids or cutlery.

You might also benefit from electronic equipment, for example sensors that can detect when a person has fallen. This type of assistive technology is provided by our telecare service, STAY (Sandwell Telecare Assisting You).

How do I get equipment and adaptations?

To receive special equipment and minor or major adaptations to your home from us:

• you must be permanently resident in Sandwell, and
• you must either have a permanent and substantial physical disability OR the equipment must be needed as part of a rehabilitation treatment package, and
• you must be experiencing difficulty using the existing main facilities of your home because of your disability.

Some examples of experiencing difficulty include not being able to use your stairs any more or your bath or shower without assistance.

A referral pack is available from our occupational therapy offices or from Sandwell Council ASSIST or Neighbourhood Office. We can help you to fill in the forms and can provide an interpreter to help us to talk with you if needed.

What happens next?

If you do qualify on all three of the above categories, and once your application has been received by Sandwell's Equipment and Adaptation Service, the application will then be prioritised for assessment.

You can get more detailed information on the stages of an application by viewing our page on qualifying for equipment and adaptations.

Who provides equipment and adaptations?

Our joint equipment store - You will be referred to this service, and will have the opportunity to look at equipment to see if it meets your needs.

STAY, our telecare service, for electronic assistive technology.

Sandwell Independent Living Centre (Ideal For All)
You can contact this service directly for further information.

Is there a charge for the service?

Equipment is loaned free of charge from our joint equipment store. If adaptations are needed, a financial assessment will be made to identify the contribution, if any, that social care services will make towards the cost of the work.

Useful links

'All about Equipment' developed by four leading charities through  Department of Health funding, aims to answer all the questions anyone might have about community equipment.

Living Made Easy created by the Disabled Living Foundation, provides independent advice and information on all types of daily living equipment. It has been funded by the Department of Health and the Department for Education and is accredited by the Department of Health's Information Standard.

Ricability is a national consumer research charity that has independent reports for older and disabled people.
Reports include: who can help: where to go for further advice and help, car measurement factsheets, guides to adaptations and motoring reports.
It is accredited by the Department of Health's Information Standard