Home Improvements For Your Elderly Parent Who Refuses To Enter Assisted Living
If you're elderly parent refuses to leave their home and enter into assisted living, you should consider making some improvements to their current home to make it more safe. Many seniors want to retain a sense of independence and dignity and therefore balk at an ALF (assisted living facility) or the dreaded nursing home. If you're parent is like this, then you can help them live comfortably by making their home safer by having some of the following changes made.
Stair Lift
If your parents live in a two-story house, then you need to address the stair situation. Elderly people have difficulty with steps. This might be due to poor joints, poor balance, or poor eyesight. What you want to avoid is a fall, which can break a hip, or worse. The solution to this is to have a stair lift installed. A chair is attached to a motorized rail system that will carry your parent up the stairs and then back down.
Home Monitoring System
These systems are designed to keep track of your parent and determine if there is unusual movement in the house. The systems differ in their complexity. Some involve placing sensors around the house, including on medicine cabinets and bathroom doors. The monitoring center can then determine if cabinets have not been opened (medicine has not been taken) or if there is abnormal activity during the night. Other systems are designed to have a small device worn by your parent. This will act like a GPS device. If the system sees that your parent entered the bathroom, and has not left after an abnormal amount of time, you can be notified. This can help in the event they fall getting out of the tub and are unable to reach the phone.
Walk-In Tub
Slipping while getting into and out of a tub is a major concern. One way to eliminate this problem is to have a walk-in tub installed. These tubs reduce the need for your parent to step up and over the bathtub rim and then precariously lower themselves down. Instead, they open a door and then sit down on a chair that is molded into the tub. Then they close the door behind them and turn the water on. The water fills up around them. When they are done, they empty the drain, and then they can open the door and leave the tub.
Grab Bars For Bathroom
Outside of the walk-in tub, and next to the toilet, you should install grab bars on the wall. These are much safer than towel racks, which your parent might attempt to use when trying to regain their balance. The grab bars should be attached to the wall by drilling them into the studs so that they won't break off should your parent need to put all their weight on them.
Contact a company like Twin City Stair Lifts for more information.
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