Solutions to Home Safety Challenges
As people age, they soon realize that their homes are not as senior accessible or safe as they thought they were. Many people prefer to age in place, or live in their own homes or with family as they age. With that decision, many soon find out that there is a surplus of home safety challenges that need to be fixed. Below we have outlined a variety of in home safety assessments by room and challenge, along with solutions for each.
Bathroom Safety Assessment:
| Do you have trouble… | Do you have trouble… |
| Getting in and out of the bathtub? | · Grab bars or tub bars · Extra-long non-slip bath tub mats · Bath lift · Walk in tub |
| Sitting down and getting up from the tub? | · Swivel bath seats · Grab bars near the tub entry and on walls |
| With secure and stable footing? | · Removing throw rugs · Adding non-slip flooring · Use of a hemi walker |
| Getting on and off of the toilet? | · Elevated toilet seats · Grab bars · Non-slip flooring, such a non-slip floor strips |
| Replacing or using toilet paper? | · Reachers or Grabbers · Lotion Applicator |
| Standing while showering? | · Grab bars · Bath seats or stools with arm rests, and or a back is safest and ideal option. |
Bedroom Safety Assessment:
| Do you have trouble… | Solutions to Consider: |
| Getting in and out of bed? | · Grab bars · Bed Canes · Canes · Walkers · Reachers · Trapeze Bar |
| Accessing what you need while in your bed? | · Patient lifts · Reachers · Remote lighting |
| Reaching items in your closet? | · Reachers or Grabbers · Foot stool with hand rail |
| Dressing yourself? | · Sock aids · Dressing sticks · Long handled shoe horns · Reacher extension kit · Stretchable shoe laces · Hip Kit |
| With pain caused from poor posture or bad sleeping position? | · Fully electric hospital beds · Lift Chairs · Head and neck pillow supports |
| With night time incontinence or getting to the bathroom on time? | · 3-1 Commode |
Kitchen Safety Assessment:
| Do you have trouble… | Solutions to Consider: |
| Gripping your utensils? | · Power of red utensils are red and bendable, with a soft grip. · Weighted utensils · Non-slip jar opener |
| Standing on hard surfaces for long periods of time? | · Compression socks |
| Transporting your food around the kitchen or house? | · Walker trays are an excellent way to move your food and dishes to and from the table. |
Wheelchair User Assessment:
| Do you have trouble… | Solutions to Consider: |
| Using the shower or bath area? | · Barrier free shower or tub · Bath lift |
| Navigating in and out of your home? | · Suitcase ramps or platform ramps o Suitcase ramps are available in sizes 2 ft, 3 ft, 4 ft, 5 ft, 6 ft, and 8 ft. They easily fold in half, and are designed to make going up and over steps and curbs easier, and wheelchair accessible. o Suitcase ramps can also be used to push the wheelchair into the backseat or trunk of car if it is too heavy for the user or caregiver. o Thresholds ramps help make traveling through doorways smoother and easier to roll over, by providing a smooth angle surface to get up and over the ledge. · Smooth floors o Smooth floors such as hard wood or thin/smooth carpet is a recommended for wheelchair use as it makes wheeling less painful and tiresome. · Stair lift or platform lifts o A stairlift helps people in wheelchairs or with issues walking, go up and down stairs pain free. o A platform lift is often used in the garage our outside, allowing the person to roll onto the platform lift and go up or down, alleviating having to climb steps. |
Living Area Safety Assessment:
| Do you have trouble… | Solutions to Consider: |
| Getting in and out of furniture in the living room? | · Lift chairs are the top recommended item for helping people get in and out of furniture. The lift chair is a fully electric recliner, that also lifts you up to make getting in and out of the chair extremely easy and reducing pain and stress on the body. · A Stander Assist Tray or couch cane can be used on a chair, recliner on couch. It provides a sturdy handle and support to grab onto while getting up, and allows you to brace yourself while sitting down. The assist tray by Stander also features a swing around table/tray. |
| Keeping necessities, reading materials, and personal items at your fingertips?? | · The assist-a-tray by by Stander allows you to keep your personal items and food on a movable tray, that is easily accessable while seating. · Reachers or grabbers are great for picking up personal items, clothes or small items off the floor, shelves or hard to reach places. · Remote lighting allows you to adjust the lighting without having to get up and down |
| Reaching objects in the closet or shelves | · Footstool with handle · Reachers or grabbers · Dressing stick |
| With balance and coordination? | · Hand rails and grab bars should be one of the top priorities in every seniors home. Grab bars should be in every persons home as they provide a safe, stable and secure item to hold onto while navigating the bathroom, shower or other areas of the home |
| Climbing stairs in your home? | · Stair lifts mount securely to stairs, enabling you to sit and travel safely and independently up and down the stairs with easy. Available in straight or curved stair lifts depending on your staircase style. |
| Seeing in your home? | · Lighting in stairwells · Lighting in doorway · Light switches at top and bottom of the stairs · Lighting under kitchen cabinets |
| Turning door knobs? | · Lever door handles are the recommended choice of door knob/handle as it alleviates the need to be turned, and can be easily pulled down to open the door |