Ron SmithPublished on AIP - The Home Assessment Series: A time to Look Around Your Home
A Good Time to Look Start Looking Around Your Home!
Starting this month, I’m going to share a series of checklists to help make your home more comfortable and safer for aging-in-place. My source of information will be the “HomeFit Guide” from the American Association of Retired People (AARP). You can download the AARP HomeFit Guide and associated worksheets and tools at: aarp.org/homefit. AARP is an excellent source of information to help improve everyday living for seniors.
Now that we are all sequestered into our homes, we have time to investigate how well they are working for us. Are there places that could be safer or work better for us in our daily living? Before we start looking at individual rooms, here are some generic problems that we can possibly improve. Best yet, most of these are no cost improvements.
A great starting point is to identify possible sources of falls. “According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), falls are the leading causes of fatal and nonfatal injuries in people aged 65 and older. ”Some of the most common contributors to falls are: area rugs, loose cords in your walkway, stair carpeting that is not properly attached, furniture placement that doesn’t allow easy passage, and simple clutter that gets underfoot. Check that frequently needed items are stored in places that are easily accessible. Wear proper footwear. Make sure that your shoes or slippers fit properly and have nonskid soles. If you have some area rugs that you really want to keep, secure them properly with double-sided tape or a slip-resistant backing. Install nightlights to provide a clear path in the dark. lso, check your outdoor walkways and paths for loose bricks, cracks or uneven joints. There are many other things that can be done to reduce falls and we will address those as we go through our room-by-room checklists in the future.
As part of aging, our eyesight needs to work harder. Proper lighting in your home is very important. Look for areas that are dark or have shadows. Can you add more light by pulling back the window coverings more or adding a lamp? Light helps us with our depth perception by providing contrast. Light, particularly sunlight, can also help us improve our mood and our outlook on life.
Another good item to check is the temperature setting on your hot water heater. The water temperature should be set to 120 degrees or less to prevent scalding and reduce energy costs.
While you’re outside checking your walkways and paths for tripping hazards, also check to see if your shrubbery needs to be trimmed to provide a clear view from your doors and windows or to improve your visibility while backing out of your driveway. Do you have sufficient light at your entry door or along your walkways? Do you have a table or a bench near the front door to set down a package when you are trying to open the door?
In the coming months, I will share some important tips to make your home fit for aging-in-place on a room-by-room basis. Also, I’m tracking the installation of a home elevator for a Maricopa couple who decided that they wanted to age-in-place in their two-story home that they have grown to love. It should be a very interesting future article!
