How to make your home safe for the elderly
Our home is our sanctuary. It’s a place we’d like to grow old in. But for the elderly, navigating through daily life in the household may not be as straightforward due to health issues.
For safe navigation, some tweaks should be made in order to create an environment that is convenient and suitable for their needs.
Here are some practical tips to create an elderly-friendly home.
BRIGHT COLOURED FLOORS
It is crucial to note that choosing floors with light hues such as cream, white, beige, light blue, ivory and grey is a great way to accommodate the elderly as the light reflected off such tiles serves to lighten the area, making it brighter and warmer, which helps an elderly with poor vision or anxiety, to walk around safely.
Some people also get anxious to walk on tiles designed with complex patterns or dark colours, especially Alzheimer patients so good flooring design can make life easier for them.
USE CONTRASTING DESIGN TO INDICATE ELEVATION
Seniors are more prone to falling due to several factors. Some may be impaired vision, medication side effects such as dizziness or even due to poor physical health. The fear of falling can also affect an aging adult’s quality of life and keep them from being active.
When dealing with changes in floor level, it may be worth it to play around with materials, textures or colours so that they can notice the difference and avoid stumbling over it.
But be careful when choosing the colour combinations – colours like black and white or black and yellow may create optical illusions for the elderly.
The best way to overcome this is by using lower colour contrasts in the flooring, which will also help the eldelry’s vision to adjust with the changes in the different parts of the house more tolerably.
ANTI-SLIP SURFACES
Elderly-friendly homes should include anti-slip surfaces particularly in areas where the floors are slippery due to wet surfaces, such as bathrooms and outdoors for safety purposes.
This can reduce the possibility of the elderly sustaining an injury when they fall or slip inside the house.
An option to consider could be the the Slip Stop tiles from Nero Ceramic Group. These tiles are smooth but create high-friction surfaces when in contact with water.
They are also stain resistant, which means they are simple to clean! Include these high-friction tiles in areas such as the bathroom and kitchen.
GO FOR HIGHER BEDS
Low furniture can sometimes make it difficult for older people to get up or sit down. Consider getting higher beds and chairs. A good thumb rule is to get furnitures with a height that allows the feet to reach the floor as they are seated on the edge.
INSTALL RAILINGS
Include railings or grab bars in places areas like bathrooms, next to the front door, the hallway and in the kitchen. This allows easy transition from one position to the next and it significantly reduces the risk of falling.
