Whether you’ve decided to help support your elderly parents as they age or someone in your family has recently experienced disability due to their advanced years, you may have made the wonderfully caring gesture to welcome them to live at your home. While they might not be inclined to make much fuss, you want to make sure that the home you’re inviting them to is suited to their needs. To that end, here are a few considerations that are worth making.
Rearranging rooms to their needs
First of all, you have to think about any of the rooms that you are going to be sharing with your relatives, such as the kitchen and living room, or any rooms that are designed specifically for their use, such as their bedroom. You want to make sure that you’re arranging the furniture to keep them as safe as possible, making it easy for them to get around, especially if they’re using a wheelchair or a walker. Keeping chairs close to the wall, avoiding leaving furniture in the middle of rooms, and enabling plenty of natural light can all help make rooms much more comfortable for them to navigate. The same goes for the entryway, too. You want to avoid clutter or anything that poses and slip or trip risk.
Accessibility is key
While it’s not true for every person of a certain age, it is true that older people tend to be much more prone to mobility limitations or disabilities, and you want to make sure that you consider both the immediate needs and potential future needs of your loved one. Talk to them about any aids they might need, whether they include rails for the stairway, safety rails for the bathroom, ramps for the front of the home, or platform lifts for wheelchair users. The needs of each individual are going to be specific to them, so it’s worth taking the time to have a conversation with them or to ask them about any concerns they might have when getting around the home.
Give the bathroom extra attention
Aside from being the most practically designed room, bathrooms can also be very risky, especially for those with mobility limitations. You should think about the various ways that you could potentially make your bathroom safe. Aside from the accessibility features mentioned above, you might want to think about providing built-in benches or seating for the shower, shower heads that are easier to reach and adjust, as well as changing out flooring materials for those with non-slip properties. While your bathroom might be completely safe for you to use, you want to make sure that it doesn’t pose a challenge to your loved one. This should be a room where they’re able to feel comfortable and safe, after all.
Opening your home up to an aging relative and welcoming them to stay or live with you is a great kindness. However, if you are concerned about whether they will be able to live safely, happily, and with some degree of independence in your home, then you should consider the above factors.
*contributed post*
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