Seniors often deal with mobility issues. Losing strength and balance is a common consequence of aging, and some health conditions further limit a senior’s mobility. They’re likely to get around with difficulty and may need to move into your home to receive help with their day-to-day and ensure their health and safety.
With an elderly loved one moving into your home, how can you make their stay as comfortable as possible?
Making a Senior-Friendly Home
Updating your home to welcome a senior member of the family doesn’t have to cost much. The key is to focus on critical areas that ensure your loved one’s safety and mobility.
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Repave and reconstruct your pavement
Start repairs from the outside of your home. Uneven pavement can cause serious harm for your elderly loved one. They may trip over cracked or uneven pathways, resulting in injury or worse. And keep the pathway around your home as even as possible.
Place non-slip rugs outside of doors to ensure they don’t slip on damp or moist pavements in case they want to take a walk after a rain and on early mornings.
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Eliminate the need for stairs
Seniors find it hard to climb and descend the stairs, so it’s best to put them in a room on the ground floor. You can also install rails to modify it for aging grips. If your loved one uses a wheelchair, it would be suitable to install a stairlift for easier movement. But make sure your stairs can accommodate this added feature because it could obstruct your escape route when a fire breaks out.
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Renovate the bathroom
A bathroom is a common place for accidents to happen. More than one in three people over the age of 65 fall each year, with most of these accidents occurring at home. The bathroom, which is almost always damp, increases the risk for slips and falls.
Additionally, the semi-arid climate in Salt Lake City might prompt your loved ones to want to take a bath to avoid feeling sweaty and sticky. Installing a walk-in bathtub in your home will help them comfortably get in and out of the shower.
Walk-in bathtubs eliminate the need for seniors to lift their feet to get in or sit so low at the bottom of the tub just to take a bath. These tubs are customized to prevent slipping and may feature hand grips and no shower curtains that a senior might mistakenly grab to keep from falling.
These tubs come with jets as well, so your elderly loved ones can enjoy a warm bath even if SLC’s weather becomes too cold for them to bear.
Provide your senior family members with a comfortable home they can freely move about without worrying about slipping, tripping, or falling. You can achieve this by taking care of bumps and cracks on the sidewalk outside of your home, eliminating their need to use the stairs, and renovating your bathroom so they can use it comfortably and independently.
