If you have elderly parents, you must think about ways to make their lives more comfortable. While sending them to senior home care is also a great option, there are other things you can do to make their house safe for them.
Let us talk about their bedroom, for example. Like everyone else, your parents are more likely to spend most of their time in the bedroom. Besides checking on the regular stuff, such as HVAC repair, there are other things that you can do to make their accommodation safe and comfortable.
Read on to learn more about essential bedroom updates to make it easier for your parents:
Install Nightlights
The number one risk that many elderly face at home are the risk of potential falls. It is not uncommon for older people to stumble in the darkness and fall – often causing injuries. That said, to make living easier for your elderly parents, you might want to install nightlights so that the path from the bedroom to the bathroom can be illuminated and the potential risks of falling can be reduced.
The benefit of installing nightlights is that they are easy on the eyes. No one likes to blink in a sudden beam of harsh light during the nighttime. You can also avail of the light-strips that you can install in the hallways so your parents can move around easier and more independently.
Bedside Lamps
By placing lamps beside the table, you will prevent your elderly parents from falling as they will be able to illuminate the room before getting out of the bed. It is common for elderly people to become a little bit disoriented in a dark room, which is a greater risk when they have recently moved into new lodgings and are not familiar with the room layout.
While installing bedside lamps, you might want to take care of the switches. Make sure that the switches are ergonomic and not hard on arthritic hands. Button-type switches would work perfectly fine. Another thing that might be useful is the installation of switches that incorporate smart controls.
Keep the Paths Clear
Another way to make a living easier for your parents is by keeping the pathways clear. Look around and see what can be removed or positioned somewhere else. Do you really need to place that decorative item in the middle of the room? How about repositioning the large pots of plants in the corner of the room? The bottom line is to keep things for your parents as simple and safe as possible.
While we aren’t demanding from you to become a minimalist and get rid of all décor, all we ask for is to keep only those decorative pieces that wouldn’t hinder the movement of your elderly parents. Keeping the paths clear becomes more important if your elderly parents are moving in a wheelchair. Just make sure that they don’t bump into anything and that they can move as freely as possible.
As we get older, we face different challenges, which is why the focus should be to keep things as comfortable, safe, and smooth as possible.
