A home is a place where one should feel safe. It should be a place where one is protected without the trace of any dangers, including falls and trip overs. On the contrary, the typical home environment poses a great threat to seniors.
Many surveys conducted on the falls and preventive measures in seniors claim that the prevalence of falls in elderly people in India ranges from about 10% to 53%. It also states that seniors above 60 fall at least once and the fall impact ranges from mild to severe injuries.
Making a home environment fall proof for seniors requires awareness on aging in place, social and structural guidelines that are improving the life quality of seniors’ lives in the western world.
What is aging in place?
Aging in place is a guide for seniors to retain control over their day-to-day life and maintain the level of independence and autonomy. This guide is developed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the USA. The senior communities across the globe comply with these guidelines. It not only encourages seniors to age better in the home they have spent most of their time in, amid the treasure of memories and people they knew for decades.
Is it possible to age better in your own place?
With the help of design for aging, aging in your own home is very much a possibility. Design for aging is a concept developed to improve and make the home living conditions of elders reflect the standard guidelines of aging in place.
The design for aging experts analyze every inch of the existing home, starting from the floor to the ceiling, and everything in between and evaluate the threats and the ways they could be turned into positive aging experience boosters for the elderly.
That might leave you wondering about the big changes that involve a heavy budget. But the reality is that in most cases, aging in place changes only take simple safety upgrades. For instance, installing grab-rails cut down the risk of falls in bathrooms by about 53%.
What are the measures to take to prevent falls in seniors?
Mostly the safety changes involve fundamental changes to the flooring, steps, walls, placement of the furniture, improving bathroom and chicken conditions, and overall lighting. Stick with us until Aging in place experts give proper guidelines about the placement of furniture, cupboards, wardrobes, placement of each home article so that seniors can avoid accumulation of clutter.
- Importance of flooring – Flooring is probably the most used aspect of a home and it is often designed giving less importancehan it deserves. Particularly in seniors’ case, flooring needs to be given utmost design priority.
- Design for aging experts advice perimeter-adhered hardwood combined with polyurethane or a urethane finish for seniors. Laminating the floor with a finish of vinyl can help seniors avoid falls to a greater level.
- Importance of lighting – Many seniors reveal that poor lighting is one of the reasons behind their trip over. With diminishing eyesight, poor lighting in their rooms would be the last thing sensors expect.
- Aging in place recommends well-lit rooms that go easy on the eyes of the elderly. The experts help you design rooms with sufficient lighting and colors that compliment it.
- Bathroom and kitchen safety – With wet floors and fog, bathrooms are the most vulnerable places for seniors. In fact, most falls occur in bathrooms. Considering the sharp edges and lack of grip, these falls can turn out to be fatal.
- Avoiding the falls, design for aging helps in remodeling a safer bathroom and kitchen environment employing all the modern technology. Starting from the defog mirrors in the bathroom to the smoke alarms in the kitchen, seniors can enjoy the flexibility of aging in place.
Is your loved one safe in their own home?
That is a question you should always ask if you have a senior family member. Prevention is way better than cure when it comes to helping your loved one age better. Do not leave anything for luck or guesses and let the design for aging experts decide the safety level of your loved one’s home.
Athulya design for aging offers a plethora of solutions that help elders aging in place. Get in touch today to evaluate and provide the comfortable aging atmosphere condition for your loved one.
