Whether age is catching up with you, or your mobility has been compromised in some other way, maintaining your independence as much as possible can help you keep up morale and let you live the fullest life possible. However, not every home has been built with future-proofing in mind, and some changes may be needed in order to allow independent living as much as possible. From something as simple as checking for trip hazards to investing in a home lift to make travelling between floors in the home a breeze, here are some ways you can maintain independence and future-proof your home.
Maintaining Mobility
Mobility around the home is one of the key parts of independence, starting with something as simple as climbing the stairs. For those that struggle with mobility and may have limited accessibility between floors, they can feel restricted or limited in their own home. A struggle or inability to travel upstairs to a bedroom or a bathroom without support or help can hurt morale.
Home lifts offer a unique way to offer accessibility throughout the home in a way that doesn’t feel ‘medical’. Each of the lifts we supply and install is suitable for those with limited mobility but are designed with style and luxury in mind. From the Stiltz Home Lift that offers mobility between two floors, through to the Altura, Aritco and PVE Vacuum lifts offering luxury accessibility for up to 5 stops, a home lift can offer mobility and independence more than most other solutions.
However, mobility is more than just moving up and down stairs - When difficulty with movement around the home is coupled with other mobility concerns, it can create a sense that independence has been lost completely. Being able to bend over to pick things up, shower or bathe alone or even do something as simple as turn a tap are little things we take for granted.
To aid with these, you can use simple solutions like raised toilet seats, single-lever taps, benches in the bathroom and the shower or bath, and ‘reacher’ type devices to pick up things from the floor or from heights, or even to push buttons. Our lifts come with simple operating systems too, making it easy to operate the elevator as needed. There are also additional extras that can be included in our lifts including seats, handrails and more. Get in touch with us to find out how we can help.
Fall Prevention and Safety Precautions
When mobility is reduced or even when simply living alone, having emergency solutions and safety precautions in place is crucial. This can include anything from avoiding falls and accessing help or support if one occurs, fire safety and reducing hazards around the home. For fall prevention, the solutions can start from something as simple as securing or removing any rugs or uneven carpet, to - once again - installing a home lift to prevent the need to operate stairs.
As a general rule, it’s important to remove any trip hazards or potentially harmful clutter from the home where possible. You want space to still be homely and cosy in your own personal style, but assessing the risks of trips or falls or any potential harm is important. To reduce risk, you could:
- Check for and remove any clutter that could be a trip hazard
- Fit stairs with handrails on both sides
- Wear well-fitted shoes
- Fit handrails or seats in a home lift for extra ease of access
- Keep everyday items within easy reach
- Ensure all wires or cables are well hidden and organised to reduce trip hazard
- Regularly check fire alarms
- Have panic alarms around the home for emergency response
- Use induction hobs rather than gas or electric for fire and burn prevention
Ensuring Visibility
For some of us, ageing doesn’t necessarily mean mobility issues - for some of us, we may be affected by other issues, such as problems with our vision. In these cases, there are a number of things that can be done to improve the accessibility throughout the home. This includes large print instructions or warnings, high-quality lighting, avoiding busy or confusing patterns and large buttons on the telephone and around the home.
Many of our home lifts have simple operation options, including large buttons with braille numbers and more. We are happy to discuss your requirements with you to determine how we can help and what you might need to create the perfect lift for your situation.