Caregiver Challenge: How to Safety-Proof Your Home

Solution

It’s easy to feel bogged down by all the changes required when your loved one faces increasingly limited mobility. But fortunately, there are plenty of simple modifications that can make getting around at home less challenging. Here are 10 home improvements to get you started (ask your home health aide for other ideas specific to your home and physical limitations):

• Declutter. Keep a clear pathway that leads from room to room by rearranging furniture and taping cords and wires to the wall.
• Put reflective tape on all steps or uneven flooring, including the edges of ramps.
• Ideally, throw rugs should be removed. If you must have them, secure rugs to the floor with double-sided tape.
• Change standard doorknobs to lever-style handles, which are easier to grasp and open.
• Make sure shelves and heavy furniture are securely attached to the wall with “L” hinges in case your loved one needs to hold onto it for support.
• If your loved one uses a wheelchair, remember to keep things within easy reach of the chair, usually somewhere between 15 and 50 inches.
• Place battery-powered push-on lights at the bedside and in the hallway on the way to the bathroom In the bathroom, install grab bars near the toilet and in the shower. Place rubber mats in bathtubs and on shower floors for traction. Keep a long-handled scrub brush and soap-on-a-rope or a liquid soap dispenser in the shower as well.
• Apply decals to sliding glass doors to make them readily apparent to those with impaired vision.
• Write emergency information in large print on index cards and place them throughout the house. Be sure to include emergency contacts as well as your loved one’s own address and phone number.