Converting a Home Into a Senior-Friendly Living Environment

Whether you need to create a space for your elderly parents to move into or whether you are renovating a property with the idea of selling it on to a geriatric buyer going forward, if you want to convert a home into a senior-friendly living environment, then you need to resolve to put safety first at all times. To see what needs to be done exactly to create a living environment that the elderly can live in day in, day out without coming across any danger, check out the advice below.

Renovate the bathroom

For a lot of seniors, the bathroom is the toughest room to face. It involves a lot of standing, and a lot of moving around in slippery conditions, all of which pose a genuine danger to people who are not able-bodied.  To help a person that has become too weak to stand alone while they shower, you should ensure that specially designed shower chairs are installed in all showers that could be used. To partner this, you should invest in a shower stool, a bath chair, and a bath seat, too, to make sure nobody is ever forced to clean themselves in unsafe areas.

Move everything downstairs

If you are in the business of purchasing properties with the goal of making them senior friendly in order to tap into that market, then you should only ever be investing in homes that are one-storied, such as bungalows. If you’re converting a two-storied home into a senior-friendly living environment for a relative of yours, then you need to be moving everything downstairs.

It is essential that life is brought to the ground level because it is on the stairs where most fatal accidents occur for the older generation, due to their lack of mobility and body strength. By moving the bathroom and bedroom onto the first story, you take away the need for the elderly man or woman that you are tending to head upstairs, and that means fewer falls are going to take place.

Fix the floors and make them non-slip

All floors have the potential to be haphazard for the older generation, so they most certainly need to be fixed. First, you should ensure the area outside of the property are as even as possible by either repaving them yourself or getting the local governing body in to do it for you. Second, you need to add non-slip, adhesive flooring to all of the entry points around the home.

Everybody that is lucky enough to reach elderly status faces the prospect of normal everyday tasks that are usually easy becoming increasingly difficult to carry out, which can be very frustrating. If you are capable of helping, it is down to you assist in this plight by making sure senior-friendly living environments are made available for those that need them. By taking some time to consider how you can make life easier for them, you may be making the world of difference.