It’s easy to see why most elderly people feel more comfortable spending their later years in the comfort of their home rather than in a residential facility, so this is likely an option you want to offer for your parents. Thankfully, figuring out how you can help your parents to age in place doesn’t have to be difficult, as there are several simple steps you can follow to keep them happy and healthy. Read to learn more.
Adapt Their Home
One of the most effective ways to help your elderly parents age in place is to adapt their home. This can be an easy task, as there are a number of basic and inexpensive measures that you can take to ensure their surroundings match their needs. For example, you can install grab bars in commonly traveled areas such all in the hallways or beside the toilet, as this will provide them with something to hold onto and steady themselves with when they are walking or sitting down to use the bathroom. It’s also a good idea to install a foldaway chair inside their shower unit, as this will allow them to sit down when washing so that they don’t slip over or get too fatigued. You can also choose to invest in some raising furniture to help them reduce the chances of falling down. You can get raising beds and raising sofa chairs that slowly rise to lift your elderly parents up to their feet so that they don’t have to try and heave themselves up and achieve balance independently. If your elderly parents have multiple floors inside their home, then it may be a good idea to install a stairlift. This can help them to safely travel from one floor to another without having to run the risk of slipping or tripping down or up the stairs.
Make Communication A Priority
Communication needs to be a priority if your elderly parents want to age in place. You need to know that they are safe and well while they’re at home, as well as checking in on whether they’re eating, taking medication, showering and more. A great way to keep yourself in the loop is to provide your elderly parents with a phone, as this way you can call them up at any time to check on them and see how they are. It’s also a good idea to install a front door bell camera, as this way you can monitor when your elderly parents leave their home and even chat to them through the speaker when they do. This will also allow you to check whenever strangers approach your parents home, as you can ward off salesmen and other unwanted guests while maintaining your parents safety. Another option that you might like to explore is a personal alarm, as they can keep this with them at all times to get in touch with emergency services in a matter of seconds if something were to happen to them. Figuring out which is the best personal alarm for elderly will help you to keep your parents as safe as possible, so take the time to investigate before you buy.
