If you have an elderly parent living at their home alone, then you know the importance of inner-home safety. If the proper adjustments are not made, the home can become a very dangerous place for seniors. That’s why it’s imperative that you make the necessary upgrades for seniors living at home. Today, we want to share with you some easy things you can do to keep your parents or grandparents safe and happy while they’re still at home. We hope that it helps!
#1 Lighting
Lighting is perhaps the simplest upgrade that you can make to any home when preparing it for elderly living. Consider making the following upgrades:
- Brighten Interior Lights The older our eyes become, the more light they require to see. Add brighter lights to places like hallways, closets, kitchens and bedrooms to help prevent tripping.
- Install Automatic Exterior Lights Installing automatic lights outside means your parent has one less thing to do before going outside. It is also an indicator to neighbors and caregivers when they go outside at night.
- Switch to Touch Sensitive Lamps Touch lamps can be turned on with a simple touch of the hand or the arm and don’t require any fine motor control.
#2 Doorways and Stairs
Doorways and stairs are often difficult obstacles for seniors to maneuver. Consider the following upgrades to prevent common injuries:
Install lever handles Using doorknobs can be a tricky task for many seniors. A simple solution is to install lever handles which can easily be used.
Level doorways Make sure that all doorways are leveled and even. If there is a step up into a new room, you may want to consider adding a slight ramp as well.
Add railings Make sure that all of the stairs in your home have railings to assist the elderly from the beginning to the top.
Add ramps to the exterior of the home Ramps are an awesome solution for many different reasons! They’re both wheelchair and walker accessible which means less worry and hassle when leaving the house.
#3 Kitchen and Bathroom Cabinets
Digging through, bending down and reaching up to cabinets can cause all sorts of struggle and pain for elderly persons. Make sure that you take the necessary steps to organize and prepare home cabinets in order to prevent problems.
Reorganize drawers Digging through cabinets can be an unnecessary hassle. Take the time to organize drawers and make the items in the drawers easy to find and grab onto.
Install easy to pull knobs Go to your hardware store and find easy to pull knobs that you can install on your cabinet drawers.
Add pull-down shelving Pull-down shelving is a great substitution for standing on ladders and shelves. With pull-down shelving, all you have to do is reach up and simply pull down the shelf. This type of shelving helps prevent injuries by eliminating the need to climb.
Bathrooms
Bathrooms can be a very dangerous place in the home. Make sure that you take every necessary precaution when preparing the bathroom for elderly living.
- Nonslip Bathmats Slipping in the tub is a common occurrence and can be incredibly dangerous. Be sure to add nonslip bathmats to the bathtub as well as safe mats outside the tub for stepping out onto.
- Install support bars You want to make sure that there is a support bar within reach at all times. You will want one next to the shower, the doorway, sink, and toilet. This will help prevent falling and allow for more independence.
- Throw out unnecessary rugs Rugs are easy to trip on and often cause falling. Make sure that you take out any unnecessary rugs from the bathroom.
We sincerely hope that this small checklist of upgrades will help create a safer and happier home for your parent. If you know of any other tips, please feel free to post them in the comments below.
