Many seniors prefer to age in the comfort of their or their family’s home.
Which can be a problem for caregivers, when their homes are unconducive for wheel chairs and elderly. So, here are four tips to make your home comfortable for your loved senior to happily age in.
Easy Access
The first, and most important thing, when making your home more conducive for a senior to live in, is making everything easily accessible. You want your senior to be able to maneuver around on their own as much as possible. Because having independence, and a sense of control over one’s own life, is an extremely important feeling.
Though it might sound tough at first, there are some very easy hacks to making it all work. Things like adding ramps instead of stairs, converting high shelves to low drawers, and creating wider doorway spaces –are all great ways to make your home easy accessible for your loved one.
Non-Slip Bathrooms
One of the most dangerous places for seniors in a house is the bathroom. This is mainly because of falling accidents, both in and out of the shower. That’s why it’s crucial to make the bathroom safe with non-slip devices.
First, place non-slip adhesives in the shower and bath areas. Test them out, and make sure they really hold your feet in place when the water is running. Next, place a small throw rug around the outside of the shower area. It’s important to take into account that after a shower, water often drips onto the floor outside the shower, making it a slippery mess. For this reason, placing an absorbent rug by the shower, will reduce the risk of slipping when stepping out.
Keep it Tidy
While we’re on the topic of slipping, it’s easy to fall when the house floors are messy. Seniors don’t always notice when there are misplaced objects on the floor. And this can be a dangerous safety hazard.
So, to keep your loved ones from tripping, make sure to keep your hallways clear and your main floors tidy. And before you get stressed- just know that you don’t need to go all out and do a deep spring cleaning. You simply need to be mindful about where you place your things. For example: instead of kicking off your shoes in the middle of the hall, put them to the side of the wall. And, instead of dropping your purse by the couch, put it on a nearby table.
A little mindfulness is all it takes.
Emergency Help
You never know when an accident might happen. And when/if it does- you want to be prepared. When it comes to senior emergency preparation, the best thing you can do is create easy ways for your senior to contact someone for help. You can do so by placing ‘help’ communicators around your house. Or, by having your senior wear a help button at all times.
And, though this might be a given, always make sure your fire alarm and carbon monoxide detector are on and working optimally.
