Members of the Sandhills Post Polio Health Group and their guests held a monthly meeting on Saturday, Aug. 6, at First Health of the Carolinas in the Monroe Auditorium in Pinehurst. This meeting was also open to the general public, and a number of interested people from the area took advantage of this opportunity to hear guest speaker Richard Duncan.

Duncan, the senior project manager at the Center for Universal Design, which is part of the College of Design at North Carolina State University, explored universal design of residential, public, and transportation environments to aid in easier access for everyone regardless of their level of ability or disability.

He began with a slide presentation emphasizing that typical homes with multi-step accessibility create areas of concern for entrance not only by persons who are wheelchair bound, but also by those with any handicap restraints. In past years, ramps of some sort, either zigzag or slight elevation, were common and unsightly. Today, in universal design homes, yards around the entrance area are excavated so that driveways, sidewalks, and entrance walkways are on the same level as the first floor of the house, preferably with some type of porch or roof overhang cover for protection from weather.

According to Duncan, our population is changing with many people surviving permanently disabling accidents and illness as well as the difficulties due to increased longevity. The need to accommodate access by everyone was pointed out in “Next Generation Housing” concept, where hallways and door openings are enlarged, shower stalls and bathroom areas have blocking added inside walls for future installation of handrails and other assistive devices, and kitchens are “disability friendly.” Even homes with multi-floor levels have stairways wider in case there is future need for lifts, and closets are being built upstairs directly over downstairs ones with easy removal of second floor flooring and reinforced interior walls in case installation of an elevator becomes necessary.

Duncan offered another visit in the near future to present a follow-up program on economical ways for remodeling a typical home to fulfill the standards of today’s needs to the universal design concept.

The Sept. 3 program will be presented by Catherine “Cassie” Drexel, daughter of the late David Drexel, entitled “What Is The Egoscue Method?”, a postural therapy program designed to treat musculoskeletal pain without drugs, surgery, or manipulation, enabling one to live a pain-free and active life. The meeting will be held in the conference center at First Health of the Carolinas in Pinehurst, and will begin at 10 a.m. This program has been arranged by Ethel Soladay, co-organizer of the local support group.