Reports show that many elderly individuals choose to live in the house as they age. Aging seniors find pleasure and security in their own home. And even when seniors have impairments, they can live on their own in their homes. If you’re looking for solutions to safe guard or modify their home, Quality Family Care has come up with a few tips to get you started.
The answer is home safety modifications developed to assist people with disabilities to be able to carefully move through the house and carry out daily living activities, including but not restricted to accessing all doors, switches, plugs, shelves, provisions and equipment. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission offers a fundamental home safety to-do list for seniors here.
Assessing Demands
Family members and friends may have the ability to help assess the needs of an aging family member with specials needs by evaluating the checklist, but a professional can bring understanding and experience to the course of action. A professional occupational therapist or certified aging-in-place specialist (CAPS) can direct the family through a needs analysis, allowing everyone to understand the existing needs of your family member, but preparing for how these needs will change over the coming months and years. Without this crucial material, you may acquire many safety modifications, only to discover that they must be switched 4 months later.
Notable Areas of Consideration
Going through the home and recognizing major spaces of consideration will be a key piece of the work facilitated with your expert resource. Generally, the primary areas of consideration in homes are:
- Entranceways into the home and into each area
- Restricted reach areas
- Staircases and steps
- Washroom facilities.
Basic Safety Modification Samples
While suggested alterations will be special for each circumstance, below are a few examples of common safety modifications for elderly people with impairments …
- Setting up oversized light switches and levers and faucet knobs to enable less complicated management.
- Mounting grab bars or rails to increase mobility, particularly in corridors and lavatories.
- Altering shelving to pull-out or roll-out shelves, making it possible for less complicated access to storage, specifically in clothing closets and food cupboards.
- Adding transfer benches that can help elderly people get in and out of bath tubs and showers.
- Broadening doorways to make adequate room for walkers or wheelchairs.
- Providing stair lifts or lift chairs to help users with staircases.
- Always remember that these are only a few instances, and there are many other safety customizations that may assist aging senior citizens.
Purchasing Safety Modifications
Some home adjustments are reasonably affordable while others are very pricey. There are alternatives to help pay for essential home safety modifications. If modifications are recommended by a physician, they may be paid for by Medicare or Medicaid. Local area organizations for the aging may be able to assist, found at www.eldercare.gov. The national nonprofit, Rebuilding Together, found at www.rebuildingtogether.org, is an additional resource that can help. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs provides various grants and solutions that may cover home alterations for aging seniors who served in the military. Elderly people may also find assistance such as block grants through local community development projects. Furthermore, some contractors offer lowered fees to seniors.
If your family member wishes to remain independent but is starting to have troubles reaching items in the home, what are you waiting for? Assess what your family member needs so that he or she can spend many more happy, pleasant and risk-free years in his or her residence.
Once safety modifications are on your list, you may be close to needing a qualified in-home care assistant, nurse, or companion for your loved one. If you have any questions or concerns regarding elderly care, call Quality Family Care at 877-513-7156. We are a family owned business that specializes in the highest standards when it comes to your family’s needs.
