As your parents get older, you may need to help them in navigating their home as they experience mobility issues or decline. In addition to individual devices like a walker or wheelchair, here are things you can do to assist their mobility at home.
Install Handrails
One of the easiest things you can do is to install handrails in the home’s main rooms as well as the hallways leading from one area to another. Older people sometimes are prone to stumbling due to dizzy spells or medication, so being able to use handrails can help. Adding handrails to the bathroom beside the toilet and in the shower or bathtub can also reinforce safety in these vital areas.
Remove Tripping Hazards
Take up throw rugs that could rumple and cause someone to trip and fall. Remove stacks of newspapers or magazines as well as pet toys, baskets of laundry, or crowded furnishings to open up the rooms and passageways that will facilitate mobility. If a carpet becomes wrinkled, have the carpet straightened by an expert or replace it with linoleum. Look for obtrusive objects like doorstops or vent covers that could cause a fall.
Facilitate Daily Lifestyle Activities
Make it easier for older people to move around the house by installing lower sinks for washing and an ADA higher toilet for convenient sitting. Use a lower table for serving meals to accommodate those in a wheelchair. If your parents plan to continue cooking, you may want to buy appliances that will make it more convenient so that they don’t have to reach over a stove to use the microwave, for example. Check the house to see which appliances and furnishings could be adjusted or replaced to make life simpler and safer for your aging parents.
Enhance Mobility Between Different Levels of the Home
Navigating different levels of the house can be challenging to someone with mobility issues. Consider installing lift chairs that operate electronically to move people upstairs or downstairs in a comfortable, secure manner. If one or both parents use wheelchairs, you may want to find out if ramps can be built between some levels of the home, such as the exit and the garage, for example, for easier accessibility.
Caring for your elderly parents can become more manageable when you make adjustments to assist their mobility at home. Look into changes like these to keep your loved ones safe whether you live with them or come in to help occasionally.
