Table of Contents

• What Home Recovery After Rehab Looked Like for Margie
• Entrance of House
• The Bathroom
• Bed Safety
• How AMS Helped
• Rehab Discharge Planning
• Need Help?
• FAQs

A few weeks ago, Margie’s family called Adaptive Mobility Solutions because Margie was in rehab recovering from a broken leg after a fall. She had been through the hospital, was in pain, and was working hard in rehab to get strong enough to return home.

The problem was not whether Margie wanted to go home.

The problem was that she could not get into her home.

Margie had four steps at the entrance. Her bathroom had not been updated since the 1990s and still had a traditional tub-style shower. Her bedroom had a standard wood-framed bed with no stable support to help her get in and out safely.

Rehab could not release Margie into a house she could not access.

Her family needed to know how to prepare home after rehab stay. They needed someone to come to the house, look at the actual barriers, and put together a practical plan for rehab discharge home modifications.

That is why they called Adaptive Mobility Solutions (AMS).

What Home Recovery After Rehab Looked Like for Margie

For Margie, this was not about shopping for a ramp, grab bars, or medical equipment. She had fallen. She had broken her leg. She was hurting. She had been away from her home and was depending on others for tasks she had handled on her own before the injury.

She wanted to sleep in her own bed.

She wanted to be in her own home.

But the home she had lived in for years was suddenly not set up for the person she was after the fall. The four steps at the entrance were now impossible to manage. The tub shower had become a serious fall risk. Getting in and out of bed had become painful and difficult. Her family was worried about bringing her home before the house was ready. They did not want to carry her up the steps.

They did not want her trying to step over the side of a tub while recovering from a broken leg. They did not want her first day home to lead to another fall.

Margie needed her house to work for her current reality. The Family Called Adaptive Mobility Solutions, and we went
to the home. 

When Margie’s family contacted AMS, we did not start by handing them a list of products.

We started with one question:

What has to change for Margie to get home safely?

Our team went to Margie’s home and looked at the areas that would matter as soon as she arrived:
• The entrance and four exterior steps
• The path from the entrance into the home
• The bathroom and tub-style shower
• The bedroom and bed setup
• The paths Margie would need to use with a walker, wheelchair, or assistance from family

This is why an in-home accessibility assessment matters.

Families often know that a loved one needs “a ramp” or “grab bars,” but the right solution depends on the actual house. We need to see the entry height, available space, landing area, doorway clearance, bathroom layout, wall structure, transfer path, and bed setup. The equipment has to fit the home and work for the person returning to it.

The First Barrier: Margie Could Not Get Into Her Own House

The four steps at Margie’s entrance were the immediate barrier for a safe discharge from rehab to home. Before the fall, they were simply part of daily life.

When getting home from rehab after a fall, there was no safe way for Margie to manage them.

Adaptive Mobility Solutions measured the entryway and planned an aluminum modular accessibility ramp with handrails. The wheelchair ramp created a safe route into and out of the home for Margie and gave her family a safer way to assist her.

This was not about putting the shortest possible ramp over the steps. The ramp had to be measured correctly for the rise, landing
area, doorway clearance, and available space around the house. A ramp that is too steep, too short, or poorly positioned does not solve the problem.

For Margie, the ramp meant she could come home. It also meant she had a safer route for future therapy appointments, doctor visits, transportation, and support from family or caregivers.

The Second Barrier: The Bathroom Had to Be Made Safer Right Away

Margie’s bathroom had not been updated since the 1990s. It included a traditional tub-style shower. That setup had worked for years.
After her fall, it was one of the biggest risks in the house.

Margie was recovering from a broken leg. She was in pain, had limited mobility, and could not safely balance on one leg while stepping over the side of a tub.

AMS recommended the immediate bathroom changes needed to make the space workable for her recovery:
• Professionally installed grab bars
• A slide-over transfer shower chair
• A safer transfer path around the tub
• A practical location for her walker, towel, and bathing items

The tub transfer bench for broken leg recovery allowed Margie to sit down outside the tub and move across the seat instead of trying
to step over the tub wall. Installing safety grab bars for the tub and shower gave her a stable, secure handhold during that transfer.

This is an important distinction for families planning a rehab discharge: a towel bar is not a grab bar.

Towel bars are not designed to hold a person’s weight during a transfer or fall. Properly installed grab bars are secured into solid structure and placed where the person needs support. Margie did not need to wait for a complete bathroom renovation before she could return home. She needed a bathroom setup that worked for her right now.

The Third Barrier: Getting In and Out of Bed Safely

Margie also had a standard wood-framed bed. It is easy to focus on the stairs and shower first but getting in and out of bed is another difficult and high-risk part of recovery after a fall or broken leg.

Margie needed a stable place to hold as she sat down, repositioned herself, and stood back up. AMS added a bed cane for mobility support.

A bed cane gives someone a secure handhold without requiring the family to replace the entire bed setup immediately. We also look at the height of the bed, because a bed that is too low makes standing harder and a bed that is too high can make transfers less stable.

For Margie, a small addition at the bedside made a meaningful difference in how safely she could use her own bedroom.

How AMS Helped Prepare Margie’s Home Within 48 Hours

Margie’s family was working against a real rehab discharge timeline.
They called Adaptive Mobility Solutions. We went to the home, assessed the barriers, measured for the ramp, reviewed the bathroom and bedroom, and identified what needed to be in place before Margie could come home.

Within 48 hours, the essential work was completed:
• An accessibility ramp with handrails at the entrance
• Properly installed bathroom grab bars
• A slide-over transfer shower chair
• A bed cane for safer transfers in and out of bed

Before Margie returned home, her family understood how she would get through the door, implement bathroom fall prevention, and get in and out of bed with more support.

The work did not erase the pain of a broken leg or make recovery easy. It removed the barriers that were keeping Margie from coming
home.

What Margie’s Story Shows About Rehab Discharge Planning 

Margie’s situation is not unusual. A person can be medically ready to leave the hospital or rehab while their home is still set up for the person they were before a fall, surgery, illness, or change in mobility.

That gap catches families off guard. They are focused on follow-up appointments, medication, therapy, transportation, caregiving, and discharge paperwork. Then they realize their loved one cannot get through the front door, cannot safely use the shower, or cannot get in and out of bed without help.

That is where home accessibility planning matters. 

For Margie, the answer was not a full renovation.

It was a practical plan built around the barriers in front of her:
• A safe way into the house
• A safer way to bathe
• Better support getting in and out of bed

Those changes allowed Margie to return to the home she wanted to be in while continuing her recovery.

Need Help Preparing a Home for Rehab Discharge in Eastern North Carolina?

Adaptive Mobility Solutions helps families across Eastern North Carolina prepare homes for safer discharge after a fall, surgery,
hospitalization, or rehab stay.

Every home and every recovery is different. The right answer might be a ramp, grab bars, a shower transfer system, a bed assist device, a stairlift, a vertical platform lift, or a larger accessibility modification.

The first step is looking at the actual home and identifying what has to change for the person to return safely.

Whether it is handicap ramp installation in Chocowinity, professional grab bar installation in New Bern or just senior home safety modifications in the Outer Banks.

Do not wait until discharge day to find out the house is not ready.