Lots of elderly people are adamant that they want to stay in their own homes for as long as possible, but as they get older and become more frail, you will likely worry more about them living alone. This is one of the many reasons why home care services can be so beneficial. They allow elderly people to remain in their homes with familiar surroundings, routines, and precious memories for many years to come.
It’s essential, however, to ensure the home remains a safe and comfortable environment. With needs changing as people age, it must adapt to create an optimal living space. A few small adaptations can help reduce the amount you worry about them and allow them to continue living independently for even longer. In this blog, we have explored how family members and home care professionals can help make an elderly person’s home more comfortable and a safer place for them to live, so they can continue ageing gracefully in their own home.
Installing Fall Prevention Measures
As people get older, their body starts to experience changes that make mobility and balance more challenging, such as weakening muscles and conditions like arthritis, all of which can increase the risk of falls. You should try to remove any potential hazards to reduce the risk of injury. This is probably one of the easiest yet most effective things you can do to help keep someone safe at home, so remove any;
- Unnecessary pieces of furniture
- Rugs with curled edges and no anti-slip underlay
- Cables and wires that are stretched across the floor
- Piles of clutter that can be kept elsewhere
Ideally, you should try to ensure an elderly person always has a clear path to get from one room to another and that it’s easy for them to navigate their own home, even if they’re not as stable on their feet as they used to be. Installing fall prevention measures can also help keep them safer in their home and give you more peace of mind. To help them move around with ease and without fear of falling, it’s worthwhile installing;
- Grab bars beside the toilet, bed and any chairs that are used regularly
- A bathing chair in the bathtub/shower
- Double handrails up the stairs or even a stairlift
- Nightlights in the hallways
- More light fixtures in dimly lit rooms
- Motion sensor lighting in outdoor areas
Enhancing Accessibility
Nobody wants to feel trapped in their own home, but declining health and mobility can impact the ways elderly people navigate their homes, which can result in them feeling uncomfortable or unsafe. By enhancing the accessibility of their home, elderly people can continue moving around with ease, confidence and security.
- Installing ramps and widening doorways can help those using wheelchairs move from one room to another
- Stairlifts allow elderly people to reach the top levels of their home, so they aren’t restricted to the first floor or have to feel unsafe climbing the stairs
- Using adjustable furniture can help the elderly stay comfortable during the day and night, enabling them to sit, lie down and get up again more easily
Often, when they remain living in the family home, there will be lots of rooms that an elderly person doesn’t tend to use anymore too. You may find that some of these rooms are more suitable than the ones they are currently using. It can be a slightly bigger job, but it’s worth considering whether you should swap some rooms around. For example, if there is an office downstairs that’s no longer used, could this be a better master bedroom? And, if there is a pantry or storage room, would this be more useful as a downstairs toilet? Think about how you can make daily life and the flow of the old family home easier.
Improving Organisation and Cleanliness
Staying on top of daily household chores can become more difficult with age, resulting in the home being unsafe to live in. Arranging some basic household and domestic care services can make such a big difference.
Maintaining a well-organised and clutter-free home will make the living space easier to navigate and reduce the risk of tripping and falling. It can also improve mental health as the chaos of the mess can create an uncomfortable and unsettled feeling. Not to mention, keeping the house clean is also essential for hygiene. An unclean space can increase the risk of developing mould or attracting pests, and the build-up of dust, dirt, and other allergens can lead to respiratory conditions. So, regular cleaning will protect an elderly person’s health.
A home care agency can help with everything from cleaning and vacuuming to changing bed linen and doing the ironing. They will ensure every client is living in a clean, tidy and safe environment, and never struggling to do things they don’t like to ask for help with.
Arranging Professional Home Care Services
Making some practical changes to the home is important for enhancing the safety and comfort of an elderly person, but hiring the help of professional home carers is also an ideal solution. Home care services make sure a client’s physical and mental needs are catered to, so they can enjoy ageing gracefully at home.
In addition to helping with household chores, home carers can support with day-to-day routines, from getting up in the morning and washing and dressing to preparing meals and administering medication. Professional carers can also offer companionship, which can be crucial for mental wellbeing. Elderly people should never feel trapped or unhappy in their own homes, and regular visits from a team of carers offer the chance for conversations and reminiscing, which can help them feel happy and at ease while living alone.
Interested in Care at Home in Bowdon?
Hopefully, the information above will be beneficial and help you to make some changes to your elderly loved one’s home, enabling them to stay living there for as long as they want to. Of course, as their needs change over time, you may have to reassess, but for now, just making a few simple adaptations to their home should help to put your mind at ease and keep them both safe and happy living independently.
If you are looking into elderly care services in Bowdon, Beloved Homecare is the company you need. We provide a wide range of care at home, including personal care, domestic care, 24-hour care, dementia care, and end-of-life care. Our compassionate and hard-working team of carers will take the time to get to know their clients and are dedicated to creating bespoke care plans. We pride ourselves on performing all home care tasks to the highest standard and client satisfaction is incredibly important to us.
To learn more about our range of home care services, please head to our website or contact our team to discuss arranging care at home in Bowdon.