Adjustments for front door?

ben5793

hi everybody thanks for having me here 
Our daughter  is working at admin s and we need to work out a way for her  to be able to enter the house safely. she  has a CP   THAT effect her movement and muscular 

We have a standard stain steel   door with a key but you need to turn the handle and the key simultaneously which she  can't do. and she try it many time doesn't work and she break the key inside twice and every time when  that happen  cost me £ 80 please need some advice and help 
i live outside UK i live in Gibraltar many thanks
Are there any alternatives systems out there?

Being able to enter the house by herself will enable my wife to work as at the moment she has to be at home to let her  in.

atlas46

Hi @ben5793

A very warm welcome and nice to meet you.

I would suggest you speak to an Occupational Therapist for guidance.

There is a charity in the UK, that designs hi tec solutions, for such problems.

I am tagging @Jean_Scope, as she is a very helpful lady and very experienced OT.

There will be a solution out there.

Best wishes

ben5793

thanks atlas46
i will try my best here but !!!!!!!

Jean_OT

Hi @ben5793

Thanks to @atlas46 for inviting me to join this discussion.

There are many aids and adaptations available to assist someone with unlocking and entering a front door to their home, ranging  low tech and very cheap to high tech and much more costly. The trick is to match the aid/adaptation to the needs and circumstances of the individual. Not just their functional abilities but the level of security needed and the budget available. Hence an assessment by an Occupational Therapist can be helpful but I appreciate that this is not always possible. 

Being really clear about your daughter's circumstances will help to clarify the best solution.

If a person struggles to turn a key or door handle there are cheap plastic devises that can be fitted to the key/handle to provide more grip/leverage.

For some people the issue is that entering requires two or more actions to be performed simultaneously (e.g. turn the key and the handle at the same time or hold the handle down/lock open and pull/push the door open at the same time). This is potentially difficult or impossible to perform  because the person only has the use of one hand or difficulties with co-ordination or needs to release the handle in order to mobilise to push/pull the door. 

In these circumstances the easiest solution is often to change how the door is secured. So for example replacing a Yale lock with a mortice lock means that the person can unlock the door and then have that hand free to perform another task.  In some circumstances an additional handle that moves the little snub isn't necessary, without it people can unlock the mortice and push/pull the door open without having to also depress a handle, this can be useful to people using a wheelchair/mobility aid. A none latching handle can be added to assist with pulling the door closed, sometimes people find that attaching a length of rope to the handle makes it easier to pull the door closed whilst being positioned well clear of the doorframe. Do consider the position of locks and handles for the needs of the individual, sometimes installing grab handles can assist someone keeping their balance whilst dealing with the door or help them pull themselves through the doorway. These none disability specific solutions often have the advantage of being much cheaper than high tech solutions, as they can be installed by a local locksmith/handyman and don't require complex maintenance or servicing. Do check that they provide adequate security for the circumstances and that they are acceptable to the company which insures the home.

Finally there are the high tech specialist solutions that automatically lock/unlock and open/close a door. Routinely these are operated by the use of a keyfob or keypad but increasing  individual solutions such as fingerprint/voice recognition or digital/remote keys are possible. Such systems are often the most convenient and coupled with an entryphone system they also enable the person to let visitors in without needing to go to the door. However, they tend to be expensive and require specialist installation and maintenance.

DLF is a good source of information about both low and high tech disability equipment, what is available and where it can be purchased:  https://www.dlf.org.uk/

Hope this helps, don't hesitate to ask if you need any additional clarification/information.

Best Wishes
Jean