Make Your Home OAP Friendly

Becoming a senior citizen is not the easiest process in the world. Many older people will share with you (if you ask them) that they are still the same person on the inside, only now they have a body that simply cannot operate in the way that it used to.

This can be a very disempowering experience, and so making your home more senior friendly is not only a considerate and empowering gift to a senior person, it is also a way of encouraging independence and self sufficiency: something that all of us, young and old want.

With a few simple renovations, you can make your home more senior friendly and today we are going to go through what those renovations are.

Rails

Older people can need some support in getting from a sitting position to a standing position. They may also need some support in maintaining balance when navigating steps and other raised areas of the home. Simple things like the bathroom, the bath and the front door step can create havoc for a senior person, not necessarily because they cannot do it, but because falling or tripping is so dangerous for them. 

Falling over when you are senior can cause breakages and serious injury, so naturally the act of getting up and down and stepping up can cause a great deal of fear. Installing rails for a senior person to hold onto wherever there are steps, or a need for getting from a standing and sitting position (and vice versa) will offer them a support to allay this fear. It is also much more empowering for an older person to hold onto a rail that is there, then to reach for your hand (which in all honesty, is rather wobbly).

Ramps

Ramps are much easier than stairs for a senior person to navigate, and can feel much safer especially if they have a handrail on them as well. The steepness of the ramp is of utmost importance, with less steep ramps being preferred (especially in windy and wet weather). If you are installing a ramp for walking on and not for a wheelchair, opt for a steep, slim ramp with handrails to help your senior friend or family member feel independent and safe.

Stairlift

Stairs can be an absolute nightmare for a senior person, who may struggle to get up and down, dealing with breathlessness, and fear of falls. If this is the case with your senior family member or friend, then installing a stair lift is a good way to make sure they can get upstairs and downstairs without fear or panic. Stair lifts come in a variety of styles with features and functions and can feel amazing secure and so definitely something worth considering if you have a senior in your home.

Raise Low things and Lower High Things

Senior people struggle with physical actions that we take for granted such as stretching up for a glass or bending down for a shoe.  So powerful was this concept of high and low for senior citizens that shops that target older people have rearranged to make sure everything in the department is in “easy reach”.

For that reason, having a quick look around the home and testing how easy to reach it is would be a highly worthwhile exercise: raising all low items higher and all high things lower, so that your senior friend or family member does not have to exert too much trouble to reach them.