Getting Your Home Ready For Your Elderly Relative


If your elderly relative is getting to a point in life when they might need some more help and assistance, you have a lot of options to consider. But one which you might be thinking of in particular is to bring them into your own home so you can look after them there. There are a lot of good reasons to do that, for sure, but you will need to make sure that you are getting your home ready for them in the first place to do this. Let’s take a look at what might be involved there.

Eliminate Hazards
First of all, you’ll want to think about safety, and in particular making sure that you are getting rid of any hazards that there might be in the home. That includes tripping hazards, such as loose rugs and cluttered walkways, and extension cords and the like too. Make sure paths are kept clear and well-lit. There might be other hazards as well to consider, and you’ll need to just go around the home and check what kind of hazards there might be so that you can hopefully get rid of them soon.

Install Grab Bars & Rails
Chances are, your elderly relative will also need some help in the form of grab bars and rails, and these are really helpful when it comes to making sure the home is as good as possible for them to be in. Bathrooms, stairways and hallways are all common spots where you might find they need support, so make sure that they are going to have those in place right away. If you can do that, you’ll find that the home is going to be much safer for them, and that they are able to get around with greater ease.

Accessibility
Of course, accessibility is a whole issue in itself, and you’ll need to make sure that you have thought about this if you want to make your elderly relative feel at home and feel able to move around. There are many possible solutions you might opt for, from curved stair lifts to simply making sure that you have the right setup in terms of where the bedrooms are. You’ll also want to consider the furniture arrangement and make sure that you are using bright, glare-free light bulbs as well as some nightlights as well. All of that will help a great deal.

Comfort & Independence
Everyone wants to be comfortable in the home they are in, and to be independent as well. So this is something that you might want to consider if you are trying to make your elderly relative feel as welcome as possible. Anything you can do to help with this is always going to help. Personal touches like familiar items can help, as can making sure that they have easy to use devices such as large button phones. All of that will make the home so much more welcoming for your elderly relative.