There's no doubt where seniors want to live as they age. The majority of seniors polled in recent industry surveys - typically 90 percent - say they want to stay at home. In fact, one recent survey showed that seniors fear loss of independence more than death. But is "home" an accident waiting to happen?
"Adult children worry about their aging parents' ability to live on their own and it's a legitimate fear," said Denise de Cock, owner of Home Instead Senior Care in Torrance, whose professional caregivers provide non-medical, in-home care and companionship to seniors in areas from San Pedro to Marina Del Rey and the South Bay area. "Many seniors and their families don't think about the fact that homes must adapt to the changing needs of seniors as they age until there's an accident."
There are a number of potential pitfalls in a home, she said. They run the gamut from accessibility to lighting to trip-and-fall hazards.
"We see many problems during the home-safety reviews we conduct for clients," said de Cock. "We check 50 different items throughout a home including the entrance, living areas, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and stairways."
For as many problems as there might be, there are just as many solutions and most are simple and inexpensive, experts say. Convincing seniors, on the other hand, is another story.
Dr. Danise Levine, assistant director of the IDEA Center at the SUNY (State University of New York) Buffalo School of Architecture, said that denial often comes into play with seniors.
"We see a lot of seniors who don't want to admit they're getting older so they don't want to make changes in their homes," Levine said. "Secondly, consumer education is an issue. If older adults do need help, they often don't know where to go or how much things cost."
Those issues can result in seniors adapting behavior to their environment, creating potentially dangerous situations, said Levine, whose IDEA Center is dedicated to improving the design of environments and products by making them more usable.
"If a senior has problems getting off the toilet, he could develop a several-step process of using a window sill, shower curtain and towel bar to get up," she said. A window sill and towel bar will eventually pull away and break. A shower curtain will tear under the strain, creating the potential for an accident.
Unfortunately, many home-makeover changes are responsive rather than proactive, noted Peter Bell, president of the National Aging in Place Council, a Washington-based advocacy group dedicated to helping seniors remain at home.
"Too often changes aren't made until someone has had a stroke or other type of condition that begins to impair their mobility," Bell said. "It's a shame, too, because that's a difficult time to be making a renovation."
Bell said that it's important for a senior-care professional to conduct a home review to identify various safety pitfalls, from poor lighting to the need for adaptive devices in a home.
While many fixes are simple and inexpensive, others might involve a remodeling project to help a senior remain at home.
"That first, important step is to make an objective evaluation of what needs to be done to keep them at home," Denise de Cock said. "It's one of the most important services that we provide."
For more information about the company's 50-item home checklist, contact Denise de Cock at (310) 542-0563 or www.homeinstead.com/286.