How Can You Age Proof Your Home?

 

An excellent article by Tom Kelly in the Real Estate section of the Herald (Sunday, December 20, 2009) touched on the subject of giving your folks a safer place to age. Instead of looking for alternative living arrangements for someone who doesn’t want to move, how about thinking about how they can safely stay in their own homes.

 

Mr. Kelly suggests giving your parents a custom gift certificate that would allow them to have an “aging in place” evaluation done of their home.  Surveys show that 90% of people over age 65 would prefer to remain in their own home. The downside is that many of them will have trouble maneuvering safely around their homes if some modifications aren’t considered.   At this time only about 10% of the nation’s homes have features that make them universally accessible.  A gift certificate for an evaluation done by a certified contractor could be one of the first steps toward making this happen.

 

Projects for accessibility remodeling can range from something as simple as installing grab bars to major renovations such as the creation of first floor living quarters.  An aging in place specialists can help determine what needs to be done in a practical no nonsense way.  Often hearing about something like this from a trained unbiased third party is much more acceptable than hearing it from a family member.

 

 

Comments

[Heather]

These are great pointers! But when letting the elderly use a cell phone, I recommend giving them the Just5 Easyphone. This is what my elderly parents use and what is good about it is that it has an emergency SOS button. With one press to this, the phone will activate its automatic dialing, automatic alarm, and automatic loudspeaker. This device also secures their safety in and out of the house. This device is a very affordable in enhancing the safety of elderly, too, as compared to other medical alert system.