5 easy home improvements that make aging in place easier for seniors and caregivers
December 4, 2019
From having to climb the stairs with knee pain to doing chores on their own, aging in place without external help is no walk in the park for our seniors. Not only can it be tasking on their bodies but can increase the chances of injury. Check out 5 ways to improve their homes to make aging in place much easier for them and for caregivers too.
1. Reduce the risk of falling by stairlifts
Stairlifts have numerous different benefits for aging adults. First and foremost, it reduces the chances of falls while traveling up and down the stairs. The stairs can be dangerous when it comes to falling as individuals can easily slip or trip when going up or down.
With a stairlift, you eliminate the chance of falling altogether as one sits in a comfortable seat which will take them up and down any flight of stairs.
2. Make bathrooms safer with handle grips
The bathroom, specifically the shower, is another hot spot for falls. Bathrooms usually include tile floors that don’t provide proper grip and they become even more slippery when wet, which can lead to falls. Handle grips installed in the bathroom, especially near the shower, can provide additional stability in the bathroom to prevent slips.
You may even want to consider changing the flooring of the bathroom altogether and installing hardwood floors. The surface of hardwood floors provides better traction than tiles, making them a safer option when it comes to reducing the risk of slips. Just make sure to choose the right wood that not only works well with the bathroom but can aid in preventing falls.
3. Light the home right
The lack of proper lighting is a hazard to falls around the home. Not having a proper view of where a senior is walking puts them at risk of tripping and falling over an object. Which is why it is important to install lights throughout the home, so it is properly lit.
When installing new lights, you can utilize smart light bulbs that can be controlled with a smart device. This eliminates the need for an aging adult to fumble for the switch in a dark room, risking a fall. They can easily turn the lights on before entering a room.
4. Let the robot do the cleaning
Smart home technology is taking the world by storm, and it’s not just for younger adults. There are plenty of technological improvements to make to a senior loved one’s home. For seniors that find it hard to clean the floor on their own, there are robot vacuums that will get the job done.
The vacuum just needs to be turned on and it will go about on its own from room to room, cleaning up the floor on its way. This means no more spending time sweeping or vacuuming the floor which can result in back or joint pains.
Since safety is of importance, remind your senior loved one that they should keep an eye out for the self-operating vacuum. Since the vacuum isn’t sedentary, it will continue to move throughout the house, so the odds of a senior tripping because of this appliance is low. However, going over the important features and cautions with your loved one will be important.
5. Turn the home into fortress with smart lock and doorbell
Getting up to check the door every time someone comes to visit can be tasking on an aging body. Not to mention that it takes a little longer for older individuals to get to the door as they aren’t as mobile as they used to be. But that no longer has to be the case.
There are numerous different locks and doorbells with smart technology that allows users to view and unlock doors with the help of their smartphone or tablet. The technology comes with a camera that shows them who is at the door and gives them the option to unlock the door using their smart mobile devices.
Therefore, there is no longer a need for them to get up to open the door every time someone visits. Also they know who is in front of the door in advance so they know whether it is safe to unlock or no.
Joseph Jones has been writing senior care and aging-related articles for years. He got his start while writing for a personal blog before he was offered to work at California Mobility in 2018 as the Content Marketing Manager, creating highly informative guides and health awareness articles for aging adults.
He’s currently contributing to a variety of blogs in the senior health industry in hopes to spread information about taking care of seniors and what to expect in the aging process.
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