Tips to Make Your Home Senior Friendly
Senior citizens form an important part of a home. As days go by the increase in the population has risen and senior citizens form an important part of population. As the age increase and people grow old, they tend to face innumerable problems related to their health issues. One of the major old age problems are lack of mobility, weak vision, depression, memory loss, weakness and many others. Most of the old aged men and women are unable to move or walk at that stage.
In order to contribute a little you can think of ways wherein you can help your aged parents or relatives move about freely in home and have a happy life without stressing themselves. This can be done by following few methods in your home in various rooms like bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, study room and so on. You can make each and every area of your home a place of haven for your old aged parents and cater to all their needs. Following are few tips which can be considered;
Entryway: The entryway is the place which connects you to the outer world. That is the place which is used the most for every purpose. Since an old aged person also uses an entryway there are various things which you need to consider;
Avoid installing barriers in the entryway. This will make it convenient for the old aged people to pass by easily. If the person is on a wheel chair a barrier free entryway helps them a lot.
Have a no-step entry: Have a passage with no-step entry will make it easier for the senior citizens to move around. Having a step in your entry will make it difficult for them to either walk or move around in a wheel chair.
No-step threshold: An entry to most of the rooms has a threshold at the entrance which separates the room. Do not have a threshold in order to avoid tripping and falling.
Garage/basement: Make sure that there is an entry to the garage or a basement from inside your home to avoid inconvenience. This will make it easier for any aged person to go directly to the place without being exposed to the harsh weather outside or walk up to the car.
Have a sliding entryway: Any person moving around in a wheel chair will find it very easy to move around if there is a sliding entryway. This will avoid the person from bumps or walking up and down.
In a bathroom: to make it easier for your aged mother, you can build a roll in shower with multiple showerheads which can be adjusted and fixed. The bathroom sink can be lowered considering the knee comfort. The toilet can be elevated in order to make it easier for them to sit. Grab bars and other objects which can be held while moving around can be installed. Due to slippery wet floors in a bathroom, people tend to fall and cause injuries, in such cases you can install non-skid floor mats inside the bathroom as well as in wet areas. A shower chair can be placed in the bathroom to be seated on while having a shower. For sinks, you can install twist knobs with lever handle faucets for people suffering with arthritis. It is always safe to install a water resistant mounted telephone for the aged people to use in times of need. Also add a nightlight in the corners of your bathroom. Avoid too much heating up of the water heater or placing electrical equipments in the bathroom.
In a bedroom: Always make sure that the bedroom of an aged person is well planned and organised. Build a walk in closet with storage facilities at different heights and install lights and fan switches in places which are easily reachable for aged people.
In a kitchen: There are various aged people who love cooking and find it inconvenient at the same time to stand for long and cook. As mentioned earlier, make sure that the kitchen is well planned according to the old person’s desires. The countertops in a kitchen can be installed to a lower level in order to avoid stressing them from extending their limbs too much. The sink can be placed at the knee height and the dishwasher can be placed at a little higher position. The cooking materials and the stove can be either placed on the floor or can be kept on a lowered counter top. Other useful equipments like an oven and others can be mounted at a height which can reached easily by them. It is always better to have a small stool with a desk in the kitchen while cooking. Like other rooms it is important to have bright lighting in the kitchen, near the countertops, cabinets etc. handles and clutches for cabinets can be installed to make the grip an easier one.
For kitchen appliances you can buy a refrigerator with side by side doors which will make it easier for an old person to reach. A dishwasher can be installed with a drawer to make it easier to load and unload.
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