Abstract:

Investigated public grants for housing adaptation in modern housing and explored attitudes to accessibility problems. 29 apartments had been adapted, in most cases by making a few simple alterations. In interviews, key persons in the building process stated that the most common measures would have cost less if they had been planned as "basic accessibility." The most important reasons why accessibility problems still persisted were building traditions, lack of knowledge about disability, and technical problems. It is suggested that adding the competence of occupational therapists to the planning process would probably improve the quality of life for disabled individuals and that putting basic accessibility into practice could have positive effects on the public economy.