Moving into a senior living complex isn’t a change most people would relish, but it’s also far from inevitable. For many elderly adults, all that’s needed to maintain a familiar lifestyle in their own home are a few modifications to facilitate mobility and enhance safety.
Knowing your options will help you decide which modifications will benefit you or your elderly loved one the most.
The Goal of Home Modifications
Safety – Removing safety hazards should be your first priority. This includes anything that could cause falls, cuts and scrapes, and other injuries.
Accessibility – The next goal is to ensure everything in the home is accessible. Is the resident able to get into all parts of the home, use the furniture, reach switches and plugs, and open doors, windows, and cabinets? Can they use every room the way it’s intended, such as doing laundry in the laundry room rather than using it for storage?
Usability – Once the home is safe and can be used, look for ways to make it a more comfortable and convenient place to live. This might mean improvements such as replacing knobs with levers or installing pull-out shelves in the cupboards.
Upgrade the Floors
Falls are one of the biggest safety threats to seniors, but the right type of flooring greatly reduces that risk. Thick or shaggy carpeting and carpeting that’s worn out should be replaced. Carpet with a nap of 1/4-inch or less is ideal for seniors who don’t use a wheelchair. For those who do, short-nap carpet isn’t a bad choice, but vinyl flooring, small tiles or hardwood are better. Area rugs are best avoided altogether, but if you use them, place them on slip-resistant mats and consider taping down the edges.
Boost the Lighting
The impaired vision many older adults experience is another factor that puts them at risk for falls. Better lighting reduces that risk, but just putting in more bright lights isn’t the best approach.
Instead, aim to create uniform, glare-free ambient lighting using a combination of hanging lights, wall sconces, and recessed lighting. Add task lighting fixtures to brighten the spaces where the resident does their meal preparation, works on their hobbies or takes care of personal hygiene.
Improve the Doorways
The doorway in the average home can be as narrow as 28 inches, which isn’t easy to navigate when you’re using a cane or walker, much less a wheelchair. Widening doorways to 36 inches, as specified by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), makes each room far more accessible. Replace round doorknobs with levered door handles, which are easier to use for those with arthritis or otherwise weakened hands.
Make the Stairs Accessible
If the home’s entrance features a staircase, putting in a ramp will make coming and going a lot easier. The type of ramp matters, though. For wheelchair ramps, the ADA suggests a slope of 1:12, meaning the ramp should rise only 1 inch for every inch of length. So if the staircase is 48 inches high, you’ll need a ramp that’s 48 inches long. The surface must be slip resistant, so your options include rubber, carborundum grit, steep mesh, and broom-finish concrete. For seniors who use a cane, walker or just have trouble managing stairs, a chair lift can help. This lift looks like an ordinary easy chair attached to a rail. The user simply sits down, presses a button and rides smoothly up or down the staircase.
In the Bathroom
Slippery floors and lack of stability support make the bathroom a real hassle for a senior with mobility issues, but home modifications can turn these problems into a non-issue. Textured, slip-resistant tile or vinyl flooring reduces the risk of falls and won’t create a tripping hazard the way bathmats do. For good traction in the bathroom, install flooring with a dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF) of 0.6 or higher.
Replacing a traditional bathtub with a walk-in bathtub or walk-in shower makes bathing easier, more comfortable, and much safer. If a replacement isn’t in the budget, though, adding a transfer bench can help. This bench extends across the bathtub and out over the edge so an older adult can simply sit down and scoot over into the tub without the need to step over the tub or shower edge to get in.
Consider upgrading the toilet to a “comfort height” (17- to 19-inch) model, which many older adults find easier to use.
During this holiday season as a gift we are offering free 15 mins in home safety evaluation .
call us today to take advantage of this offer. 914-255-3256 .
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