Ep 3 - How can we help our parents be safer at home - The Evaluation

Episode 3 of the Helping Our Parents Thrive podcast takes you through the flow of an actual Senior Home Safety Evaluation that we would conduct Online. Evaluations typically take about 30 minutes to an hour. So make certain that you've given yourself enough time to go through this thoroughly.

For background on why a Senior Home Safety Evaluation is important, please check out Episode 2. Together we Thrive! 

Transcript

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Welcome to the Helping Our Parents Thrive podcast, here to support adult children of seniors like you and me in caring for our parents and ourselves. I'm Melissa Uppleshoten, your host. This is actually part two of the second episode of the Hop Thrive podcast. So if you haven't listened to part one, please do. This is in support of that episode. And in this part, I will actually take you through the flow of one of my senior home online safety evaluations. Evaluations typically take about 30 minutes to an hour. So make certain that you've given yourself enough time to go through this thoroughly. And if now is not a good time for you or your parent, just pause This is a no judgment zone. We will be here when it is. If you want, go ahead and pause the podcast here and get the safety checklist from hop thrive. com so you can follow along. You do not have to enter your email address to get it. It's a simple download. In case you were wondering, we only send email to anyone who reaches out to us individually or who chooses to subscribe. If this process seems daunting to you and you would rather have a certified senior home safety specialist conduct an online video evaluation for you and your parent, visit our website at hopthrive. com or email us at at hello at hop thrive dot com. And we will provide you details on that. Another option, if you would prefer an in person evaluation, just Google senior home safety specialist and I am hopeful that you will be able to find one in your local area. For today's episode, I'm going to assume that you and your parent are fully capable and willing to conduct this survey evaluation on your own. Unfortunately, since we live in a litigious society, I'm afraid I must give this disclaimer. By providing advice on home safety, I am not assuming liability beyond the scope of my expertise or the information provided. While I strive to offer helpful guidance, individuals should exercise their own judgment and consult appropriate professionals for for specific concerns or complex situations. And this is a safety checklist. This is not a tool that will help you determine if major modifications need to be made. If that is what you're looking for, I would highly recommend contacting the National Home Builders Association and find a certified aging in place specialist in your area. Those are the folks that will help you make home modifications. Again, if you can download the Senior Home Safety Checklist on HopThrive. com. Once you have it in hand, let's continue. It is important for you to try and schedule the evaluation at a time that your parent will have the most energy so that they can be receptive to new ideas. As you can see, the checklist is divided into separate areas of the home. I'm going to simply share what I look for when addressing each of these. items. Please just email us at hello at hopthrive. com if you have any questions. Let's get started. The grounds. Number one, look at the stairs and the handrails. Are they in good condition? Are there any cracks? Is it unstable? If so, obviously you're gonna correct that. One thing I would look out for is if the stairs are one single color, I would look at getting reflective strips that you can get off of Amazon. that will provide you a differentiation between each step because as we get older, it's harder for us to see differentiation in colors. So I would recommend just looking for a reflective strip. Stoops, same thing. Is it in good condition? Can you see the stoop? Vegetation. Are there bushes that are covering up walkways and stairs and the such, the windows? You want to make certain that vegetation has been cut back. Walkways. You want to make certain that they are free of debris and if they are bricks or the such, make certain that they are as level as can be. driveway. This is a key area where I see problems. The slightest crack as somebody's rushing, getting out of their car can cause them to trip. So what I recommend in this situation is just getting some cement caulk from the Home Depot or Lowe's and you can caulk it and then smooth it out with the back of a spoon or such, but just make it so that there isn't something for someone to catch their foot on. You also can hire somebody and have it completely repaved, which I've had clients do that. I've also had clients who have taken a sander and they have hired somebody to sand down their cracks in their driveway so that it's smooth. Those are a few options. Lighting. Look at what the lighting is and is it adequate, especially as they're walking to and from their car. Okay, exterior of the house. House numbers are really important. If an emergency vehicle is going to be coming to your parent's house, you want them to easily be able to tell which house it is. So make certain that house numbers are visible. peephole. You want to make certain that they've got a peephole in their door so that if a solicitor comes or something of the such that they can actually see who is out there. Decks, patios, and porches, same comments as what I said with the stairs and the handrails, just make certain it's in decent condition and that you can see when there's a step up or a step down. And the same thing with the lighting. let's talk about the living room and family room now, and the flooring. If the flooring is slippery, one thing that I recommend is grip socks. They have a little bit of traction on the bottom and they can easily go in the washer and dryer. You can find them basically anywhere. Another thing, if they have throw rugs, make certain that they are secured to the ground. grip corners, you can find them just about anywhere. Another hazard is blankets, believe it or not. Tripping over a blanket can cause serious falls. So watch and see whether they keep blankets on the ground, and if so, suggest that they pick them up when they get up and just put them, in a chair or on the sofa, but not leave it on the floor. Let's talk about smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. If you look at the bottom, there is a link and that is to the National Fire Prevention Association organization. And that will provide you guidance on exactly where the smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors should be in your parent's home. So I highly recommend you checking that link out. Lighting, same thing as before. Is there adequate lighting? Is it easy for them to turn on and off? Take a look at what the lighting situation looks like. Fireplace, make certain that it is cleaned regularly if in use. Furniture, see if there are sharp edges on the furniture and Maybe as time goes on, it might be important to put edge protectors on there that, again, you can find just about anywhere. Dining room, flooring, same situation as before, is it clear? Are they able to easily walk around the furniture in the dining room? And another thing with the furniture in a dining room, getting up from dining room chairs is a whole lot easier when there's an armchair. I highly, highly recommend having armchairs in your dining room, at least one. Lighting, same situation. Is it easy to see in this space? Let's go into the bedrooms. Flooring, you got it. You know exactly what to look out for with this. Lighting, one thing that I recommend is, When our parents get up to go to the bathroom at night, which happens more and more as we actually, as we all age, I highly recommend a motion censored nightlight. If they do not have a outlet that is close to the bed, then I would recommend they have battery powered motion sensor light that you can just put at the foot of the bed. And when they step their foot down, the light will automatically go on. So this is something that has been a huge, huge hit with clients. Smoke alarm, we already talked about that, and carbon monoxide detector. Path to the bathroom, make certain that that path is as clear and well lit as possible. Seat for dressing, this goes along with the same thing as the dining room. Make certain that there is a comfortable place to sit when putting on shoes or getting dressed, and make certain that there are strong arms on that chair. Access to the closet, make certain that things are easily reachable and if anything is on a top shelf that needs to be reached, make certain that there is a very stable ladder to reach that. Phone access, just in case, this is another just in case thing, ask where the phone is at night and if there was an emergency, will it be close by? Flashlight, old fashioned flashlight. Highly recommend having one next to the bed. Let's go on to the kitchen. We already talked about flooring. Another thing that. You should look out for is GFCI switches. So make certain that whenever there's water next to a electrical source that the switch is GFCI. And what that does is it'll turn off the switch if water is ever detected in that area. You can Google to find out more information on that. Lighting, you know the story on lighting, fire extinguishers. Something that I absolutely love is a small aerosol fire extinguisher And what this does is it allows you to put out not just regular fires but also grease fires. And it's just a small aerosol can that goes under the sink. So you've all seen these big fire extinguishers that I have no earthly idea how to use, but I do know how to use an aerosol can and our parents do too. So I highly recommend having one of those underneath your sink. Next, cabinets and reaching them. I recommend A step stool. So do not use a chair. I know we've done this in the past, but a step stool is the safest by far for reaching higher cabinets. Next, range access. Where are the buttons for their range? Do they have to lean over in order to turn them on or off? If so, I would recommend considering upgrading their range. Water temperature. Go ahead and turn the water on really hot and see just how hot it gets. Make certain that it doesn't get scalding hot. And if it does, we'll get to the mechanicals in just a minute. Let's talk about bathrooms. Flooring. Make certain that the path is as clear as possible within the bathroom. If there's a rug that is being used, preferably there is no rug, but if there is make certain that it's got the sticky backing on it so that it stays stable. Another thing is door swing. Is it easy to get in and out of the bathroom? I had one client who ended up switching the door swing because Getting around the toilet was very difficult for them as they got older and you could hire a professional to easily switch the door swing. GFCI, we talked about that before, makes certain that they've got the appropriate outlets in their bathroom. Lighting. One thing, motion sensors, another thing, a light that is a dawn to dusk light is another option. Again, you can easily find those online. Let's move on to toilets. This is another just in case situation. No one plans on not being able to get up from the toilet, but it happens from time to time. So one of my favorite tools in this area is a grab bar that is disguised as a toilet paper holder roller. You can check this out on Amazon or at the Home Depot or feel free to email us at hello at hop thrive. com and we can point you in the right direction. Again, it, it is a toilet paper holder, but it acts as a grab bar. It is not in your face and it is there just in case. Next let's talk about showers and tubs. I'm not going to talk about the normal grab bars. We all know that there should be a grab bar in any area that is going to be slippery. But if the floor of those areas is slick. I would recommend looking for adhesive strips that you can place on the bottom of the shower or on the bottom of the tub. Again, you can get these just about anywhere, but they're really easy to place on there and extremely effective. Okay. Mechanicals. Make certain that both of your parents, if both are alive, know where the water shutoff is. And also know where the hot water controls are. So I have found in multiple situations that one parent might know, but the other parent might not. So make certain that those are clearly identified in case of an emergency. And then also with the hot water control, if when you tested in the kitchen, it was too hot, this is where you're going to go ahead and take care of that and put it to a more adequate temperature. Garage, garage door. One thing that I've found is that it is more difficult to raise the garage door as we age. And one, important factor is if there is an emergency and say the electricity is off, how does your parent open the garage door? I have found that oftentimes one parent understands how the emergency release works for the garage door opener, but the other might not. So make certain that both parents. Or if you just have one parent that they are fully aware of if there is an power outage, they know how to open the garage door if they need to get their vehicle out. Lighting, we've gone through that. Just make certain that it's adequate. Floor, this is an area where we typically see a lot of debris on the floor. Take a look at it and see what might be on the floor and if you could help with some storage systems to clear that area. Basement. Are the floors slippery? Are there steps that need to be identified? What is the lighting like? The stairs going down to the basement? Are the handrails shaky or are they secured tightly? These are all things to be looking for. Laundry, again, same flooring issue. Also the washing machine and the dryer, are they easy to access? Sometimes as our parents age, it's harder to bend down to get in front of them. Or it might be harder to lift things out if it's a top loading one. So I would ask your parent if you could see them accessing both the washer and the dryer to make certain that it's easy for them or consider a laundry service. if that's an option. Then cleaning is an annual cleaning of the dryer vent happening. That's an extremely important aspect of home maintenance hallway. You know, the drill on flooring, you know, the drill on smoke detectors and on lighting. And on the stairs, I had a client who had floors. That were very slippery and what we did with them is that we put some adhesive strips on it, but they weren't just your normal adhesive strips that you would use outside. We found these on Etsy and you can actually upload your own pattern which made that client extremely happy. And then just general emergency plan in case of an emergency, have you discussed with your parents what actions are going to take? That is it. You have made it through your evaluation. That may seem like a lot, but I promise you, after you get this evaluation done, it gets easier from there. You can take baby steps after this. What I recommend is number one, after you complete the evaluation, celebrate. Do something, maybe even go to lunch with your parent. But I would not recommend going into the action plan right away unless there's something critical that you uncovered. If that was the case, take action on that immediately. But for everything else, what I would recommend is waiting, typing up your findings, and then meet with your parents again. And I personally like taking things three actions at a time. I take maybe one that's easy and two a little bit more difficult and make them a milestone. Figure out what's going on. Who is the person that's going to be able to help with that action? Is it something you could do? Is it something for your parent to do? Is it something that you can hire a handy person to do? One thing I recommend is Nextdoor as a great resource for Finding handy persons in your neighborhood. And then once you are done with those three actions that you took, then address the next three actions and then keep going until you've completed your list. Slow and steady progress is the key. That is it. I hope you learned something from this evaluation. When you are done with this, either just the evaluation part of it, or after you've completed a few milestones, please email me, and let me know about your experience, and when you are done, send me your address, and I'm going to send you a little thank you. I am on a mission to make certain that our parents are a little bit safer at home. Again, the email is hello at hop thrive. com. Thank you for listening. If you got something out of this episode, please be sure to follow or subscribe to wherever you listen to podcasts. And please share both the Helping Our Parents Thrive podcast and Facebook community with anyone that you feel might need a little support as well. Visit us at hopthrive. com for more information. Together we thrive.