As your parents or grandparents age, you might start to become worried about their safety and overall well-being while they continue to live at home alone. Whether you convince them to come live with you, or they want to remain in their own home for as long as they can, you are going to want to make sure that you are doing everything you can in order to keep them nice and safe. How can you do this? Well, you can start by making use of the following helpful suggestions.
Help Them With The Stairs
If your elderly loved ones currently live in a multi-story home, you will need to address the issue of the stairs. Even if your family does not think that the stairs are an issue now, or that they will ever be an issue, it is better to be safe than sorry. It would be wise to be prepared by having an EasyClimber Stair Lift installed so it is already paid for and set up for whenever it needs to be used. You might just find that your loved ones will start using it a little sooner than they claimed they were going to. After all, there might be times where they are not feeling well or they have to carry a handful of stuff upstairs. Sitting down on the chair and riding up the stairs is certainly safer than trying to walk up them while not being able to hold on to the handrails.
Keep Checking In On Them
You will want to do your best to call your elderly loved ones about once a day just to check to see how they are doing. A daily check-in call can alert you to potential problems that need your attention. If you find that there is an issue, you can stop in or schedule to have a home nurse start coming into the home once a day. Should you find that you simply don’t have the time, or that you end up forgetting because of how hectic your schedule is, you might want to hire an aide that will stop by their house once a day. This can give you the peace of mind that there will be someone around that can check on them and that might be able to help them with some small tasks around the house. Having that little bit of help can make all of the difference when it comes to ensuring that your aging loved ones remain safe.
Widen The Door Frames
As your family ages, you might find that they may need to start using a cane, walker, electric scooter, or a wheelchair. The problem with this is that many people find that the door frames within their home are not wide enough for anyone to get through them comfortably enough when they are using a mobility device. Therefore, you will need to consider widening the door frames. Of course, this might be a job that you are going to want to leave to the professionals. Sure, it might cost some money, but there is a chance that you can deduct this expense on the yearly income taxes under a medical deduction.
There is a good chance that there will be some more things that you will want to do in order to ensure that your elderly loved ones will be as happy and safe as possible while remaining in their own home. If you want further guidance, you can always speak with their doctor for suggestions on some additional things that you can do. Since it might take a little time to get all of the changes implemented, you will want to do everything you can to start the process right now.
