When an Aging Parent Moves In: How to Get Your Home Ready

When you bring an aging parent into your home, you will want to make their new living situation as comfortable as possible. A few simple adjustments in the design and setup of your home can help your aging parent feel comfortable and safe in their new abode, but it can be difficult for you to know what will help. Elderly people often have needs that younger people don’t anticipate, and this can make the task of preparing your home for a new elderly occupant difficult. These simple tips can help take the headache out of preparing your home for its new resident.

Preparing On A Dime

Even if you don’t have a big budget, one of the best things that you can do is to spend some time researching available products for “elder-proofing” your home. The products that are available will help you pinpoint problem areas so that you can find your own, cost-effect solutions. A set of bumpers for sharp furniture corners can help your aging parent avoid injury in your home. These are affordable, and are often invisible, made out of clear plastic specifically chosen to blend in to the look of your furnishings. However, you don’t necessarily have to buy anything to make your aging parent more comfortable. Instead of buying new guards for everything, consider saying goodbye to some of your problem pieces. Another great product on the market is known as the anti-slip mat. These are grids made out of flexible rubber mesh, and are meant to be placed under your home’s area rugs to increase traction and reduce the chance of slips and falls. If you can’t afford a mat, you may still be able to solve the problem by removing rugs that are prone to slipping, thereby protecting your aging parent at no financial cost.

Communication

One of the most important things that you can do to prepare your home is to establish an emergency communication plan. Introducing an aging parent into your home often means figuring out strategies for how you will deal with their health problems in the present and in the future. Often, an aging parent won’t be able to call loudly for help if an accident occurs, so have a backup plan. Many slips, falls, and other accidents occur in the shower, so consider installing a buzzer in your bathroom that will send an alert throughout the house. It may also be a good idea to have a buzzer or a bell in your parent’s bedroom that will allow them to summon help in case of an emergency.

The easiest scenario to put in place is installing cordless phones in both the bathroom and the bedroom. This will make it easy for an elderly parent to call for help if an accident occurs. Get a cell phone or a pager for yourself, and program the number into each phone’s speed dial so that it will be easy to reach you in am emergency no matter where you are. Make sure that everyone in the house, including any children, knows about the system, and knows how to use it. When it comes to planning for health emergencies, there is no such thing as planning too far ahead, so try to have everything settled before moving day.