Ways to make the home easier for mobility impaired seniors

In this guide, we offer some suggestions for making the home more equipped for an elderly occupant who contends with a physical impairment due to ageing or an underlying condition.
Roll-InBuddy XL SB6c-22 in front of shower

Our home should be a relaxing environment

The home – it’s our safe haven, where we spend a great deal of time, and should be a relaxing environment to live in. For many elderly members of our community, a majority of the week is spent at home whether it’s hosting family, pottering in the garden, reading a book, cooking a meal or watching TV. As seniors with mobility impairment have less ability to work around an impractical floor layout or hazard around the home, it’s important to prepare and continually refine the home to make movement and living as straightforward as possible.
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Arrange the home to make life easier

Reorganise the furniture

The way furniture is set out in a home might make sense to us in our 50s and 60s, but become impractical as we age. For example, an arm chair placed at the opposite end of the living room to the door out to the kitchen or bathroom may present a hazard if walking or assisted movement is slow. When nature calls, or indeed a dish is ready, this extra distance can become a bigger hassle than it needs to be.

You’ll also want to consider how the furniture in each room supports or prevents safe movement – are there low-level side tables that are hard to see that could cause a tripping hazard? It might be an idea to remove them.

What many elderly households may benefit from is a proper audit of the furniture they have in the home to determine how much of it is necessary (taking into account the family and other guests they may host).

There may be some furniture that needs to be removed – and replaced with a more practical solution such as a couch or arm chair with a higher base and thus more conducive to sitting and standing by the user with reduced personal mobility at play.

How to place items around the home

Bring everything within reach

We think nothing of storing items in top cupboards, in the attic, under the sink or out in a shed as adults. But when we hit an age or level of physical condition that makes movements like bending, stretching or reaching a painful experience, decisions on where to store items becomes a much bigger consideration.

While you may want to consult with an occupational therapist about the strategic placement of your household items to suit your home and needs, the general rule of thumb is to reduce placement below waist and above shoulder height. This may mean reorganisation of kitchen cleaners from under the sink to on bench or eye-line cabinetry.

You may wish to get some help from a family member or friend to do this reorganisation, especially if it requires lifting of multiple objects at a time.

Each room will have different objects and shelves or cupboards available. Working with the rule of being within reach with minimal exertion, you should find that daily life requires far less of the tricky (or sometimes impossible) bends and stretches.

Consider updating the lighting to brighter fixtures and bulbs

Lighting is an underrated component of making a home safe for an elderly individual or couple. Many homes have out of date lighting and bulbs that are simply too dim to provide ample light coverage in all parts of the room.

Modern light fixtures not only provide a better, more consistent light source, they typically last for longer than an old incandescent style bulb fixture. However – if you or your loved one suffers from eye strain or medical conditions where flickering light could cause an issue, you may want to speak with your OT or doctor first as LED lights have been reported to cause eye strain in some cases. Compact fluorescent lights are another option to look at.

Note, you should speak to a qualified electrician who can both consult on the lighting options as well as make wiring changes to accommodate new fixtures and install the lights too. And your doctor should be able to provide guidance as to what option might suit you if you do suffer from eye-related conditions.

Getting in and out should be safe and easy

Eco Traveller SB7e folded down for transportation

Remove barriers to entry and exit of the home

Being able to access your home quickly and simply might sound like a given, but for many homes a physical impairment can make this very difficult. Even something as seemingly innocuous as a doormat or ornament can be a tripping or slipping hazard to an elderly person without full vision or control over their mobility.

Even more important to make a swift process is leaving the home. The house should offer at least one if not more exits on every side of the home, and none of these doorways or routes should require difficult manoeuvres to get out of. For example, a back door with a step down onto a brick patio may require a tricky, dangerous step and the patio may be slippery. Preparing the home for a mobility-impaired edlerly person may require small non-slip ramps out of the home and assurance that the patio is not slippery (such as getting it routinely water-blasted to remove moss or mould that can be slipped on).

Any objects on the floor by exits (such as a laundry basket by a back door) could be a safety risk to a quick exit.

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Simplify the most important areas

Reduce moving distance between bedroom, lounge and bathroom

While movement is important to keep blood flow and serve as exercise, long distances around the house can be a headache for elderly occupants where they’re ability to move quickly is greatly reduced. The three key rooms for ‘living’ are the lounge, bedroom and bathroom. You may wish to swap rooms and bathroom so that the time to access the bathroom is shorter from both bed and the lounge.

Less distance to cover, especially when in a hurry such as needing to use the toilet, will likely reduce moments of rushing beyond one’s physical ability leading to a fall. It can be an adjustment to change rooms, but for a senior with mobility impairment it will make a big difference in daily life.

An occupational therapist will help you plan out the configuration of the house, and may engage with your family members to help move this around to suit a more hassle-free set up.

Remove obstacles and create more open spaces in the home

Open spaces in a home that accommodates mobility impaired residents is absolutely crucial. The floor should be completely free of unnecessary obstacles like ornaments, stands, extraneous tables and loose items like books or bags. This is because with a physical impairment, our ability to react and adjust to tripping is compromised. But the other reason, which is just as important, is the matter of assistive equipment and carer assistance.

In a room that’s cramped with objects and little clear floor space, a walker, wheelchair or bathroom transfer system can get caught up and be difficult to manoeuvre. A carer also requires ample clear room around a bed, chair or other furniture to safely and carefully transfer their client into assistive equipment.

Part of preparing the home for a mobility impaired elderly person is going to require family members to help transform them into somewhat of a minimalist – at least visibly. Anything precious that needs to be kept can be done so by storing safely in a cupboard, or held by a family member offsite.

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Use “Smart Home” products to reduce mobility demands

Eco Traveller SB7e folded down for transportation

Introduce smart home functionality or automation

Installing a smart home panel and connecting various home fixtures and appliances can be an absolute game-changer for a senior who struggles to keep on top of all the functions of the home each day.

Smart home systems are available online or through local solution providers who can conduct an assessment of the home (possibly with coordination of the OT), and install a solution that works for you.

Home automation takes some of the daily tasks out of your hands and simply makes adjustments as necessary. These can always be overridden manually but for some of the home admin tasks like closing curtains, switching lights on and off, and maintaining a certain comfortable temperature, this automation can be a huge help.

Smart homes can even consist of ‘smart’ appliances like modern ovens that can be controlled over WiFi with an app. Imagine being able to preheat the oven and turn it off once your meal is cooked, without having to physically make the walk each time. Some ovens even have a camera built in – although you’ll need a certain budget to get something like this.

At the very least, smart home control over curtains, blinds, temperature and lights takes a physical load off – which at the end of the day can be more than welcome!

Use bathroom mobility systems to reduce daily risks

Eco Traveller SB7e folded down for transportation

Invest in a bathroom mobility system

The bathroom needs to be carefully prepared to properly accommodate someone with poor mobility due to the slipping hazards and transfer difficulties that are present. However, transferring between a toilet, bathtub or shower and out of the bathroom doesn’t actually need to be a hazardous process that puts you or your carer at risk.

A bathroom transfer system will allow you to remain comfortably seated before entering the bathroom then be simply shifted between the different bathroom fixtures all the while in the transfer chair.

If you want to learn more about bathroom mobility systems, head over to our range page where you can learn about the different options to suit different bathrooms.

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More Info

The information in this guide is intended as general information only and is not a replacement for official health guidance by your local medical providers. Please always consult an occupational therapist and/or local healthcare for more specific guidance.

More information about this topic:

You can find useful information about this topic across the web via the following excellent online resources:

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Helpful Guides

Learn more in these related guides: 

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