Preparing Your Home For Aging In Place
March 26, 2019 | by the National Care Planning Council
Safety is the main factor in preparing a senior's home for aging in place.
It is becoming more popular for aging seniors to remain in their home instead of moving to care facilities. Home care, community services and conveniences make it a favorable possibility for many people.
There are some changes and additions that need to be made to the home to create safety and preparation for current and future needs. As age advances, a walker or wheelchair may be needed which would require some home renovations to accommodate them. Expandable door hinges will allow bedroom and bathroom doors to open flat, making wheelchair or walker entry more accessible. Furniture may need to be removed or placed against walls to make more floor space for wheelchair or walker.
Making the home safe by removing rugs, or other objects in halls and walkways eliminates some of the falling hazards. De-cluttering kitchen counter tops, bathroom vanities so that areas of the home where daily routines of bathing, cooking and eating makes things less congested and easier to keep clean.
Bathroom modifications may need to include:
- a waterproof seat in the shower
- hand bars in shower and around toilet
- conveniently placed soap dispensers
- a raised toilet seat
- a walk-in shower instead of a bathtub
- no slip mats and rugs
Add more light
The American Optometric Association reports "Just like your body, your eyes and vision change over time. As you age, you need more light to see as well as you used to. Brighter lights in your work area or next to your reading chair will help make reading and other close-up tasks easier. The normally clear lens located inside your eye may start to discolor. This makes it harder to see and distinguish between certain color shades."
Adding more light may be as simple as painting walls white, adding brighter light bulbs to lamps and overhead fixtures, and removing heavy dark curtains from windows. In addition, extra lights close to the floor in halls and stairways will illuminate the walking path. Wireless remote control light switches are easy to install and turns multiple lamps on with one click, eliminating walking to each lamp and bending over to turn them on.
With today's smart home technology installed, voice commands can control lights and other electronics from anywhere in the home adding more safety for aging seniors.
Paying for upgrades
Making renovations to a home can be very costly and even impossible for seniors with fixed income. There are some financial solutions that can be considered.
Reverse Mortgages
A reverse mortgage is a loan you take on the equity of your home. It is money you can use as you like. It is usually tax free and requires no payments as long as you live in the home. If you leave your home or when you die the loan must be repaid.
USDA Single Housing Repair and Loan Grants
The USDA provides loans to very-low-income homeowners that need to renovate or upgrade their homes. If qualifications are met they can receive a low interest loan up to $20,000 or may qualify for a grant of $7500. Qualification rules can be found on their website.
Federal and State Services
There are services provided by Federal, State and VA providers. Some are for disability renovation but most are medical related services. There are financial qualifications taking both income and assets in consideration. Medicaid programs are specific to each state. Not every state carries the same program or has the same qualifications, but most have services for seniors in their homes.
