(Your) Home for the Holidays: Make the Season Safe for an Aging Loved One
The holidays are often a joyful time, with families and friends gathering together, bustling with activity and joining happy crowds to shop, attend events, and enjoy the season.
But that sparkle and dash can leave behind some elderly folks, especially those with mobility issues and health challenges. Loneliness is a huge problem among the United States’ oldest residents, and that loneliness can be exacerbated during the holidays.
Most families, and even friends and neighbors, do what they can to include elderly relatives and friends in the season’s events. Sometimes, that means hosting an elderly person for a few days. Hosting has its complications, of course, so here are some tips for hosting an elderly person that can help everyone have the best holiday possible.
THINK OF THE PERSON, AND THE HOUSE
When planning to host any person, it’s important to consider their needs. This is even more vital with an elderly person who might have mobility issues, therapeutic medical needs, and the need for other kinds of care. Look at the home to which you plan to bring your relative: can the house accommodate that person’s needs? If not, consider holding a few activities at the your elderly relative’s own home, or just picking them up for certain events. If you can make a good hosting plan for your house, proceed!
CHOOSE THE BEST ENTRANCE
Remember, this may not be the front door. Choose an entrance and exit for your relative that has minimal (or no) steps and as wide an entry as possible to accommodate a walker, cane or wheelchair.
CHOOSE THE BEST BEDROOM
Again, a room that can be reached without stairs is optimal, and as few stairs as possible is essential. Other pluses: easy bathroom access, a bed at a comfortable height, and ample plugs for oxygen machines or other necessary medical devices. Ensure peace of mind for your loved one with a non-permeable mattress pad. Once a bedroom is chosen, roll up and store rugs to eliminate slip-and-fall hazards. Finally, take some time to clear entrances and pathways and route electrical cords along the baseboards, out of pathways.
CHOOSE THE BEST BATHROOM
Once you’ve prepared a bedroom, turn your attention to the bathroom your loved one will use. Remove throw rugs for the duration of the stay and, if needed, consider renting or buying a raised toilet lid that easily installs right on top of an existing one and can be removed later. Another good idea: sturdy suction grab bars (available for less than $20 at home-improvement stores) next to the toilet and in the tub or shower. If your loved one struggles to stand or get into and out of the tub, consider renting or borrowing a bath chair that fits inside most standard tubs and showers and provides a sturdy place to sit while getting clean.
REMOVE OTHER OBSTACLES AND HAZARDS
The bedroom and bathroom aren’t the only spots that need clear walkways. Check the public areas of your home for potential obstructions or hazards — decor that makes walkways narrow, cords across paths, and the like — and mitigate or remove them.
KEEP THE SCHEDULE SIMPLE AND FLEXIBLE
Once the physical surroundings are as safe as possible for your visiting loved one, make accommodations for their emotional well being. Even if you yourself have a hectic holiday schedule, don’t expect your loved one to join in everything. Plan out a simple schedule that includes events in which people come to your loved one, and build in down time in which your visitor can rest, relax, and recharge. Be ready to change plans if the elderly person becomes weary or needs a break. Remember your goal: helping everyone have as happy a holiday as possible.
KEEP AS MANY TRADITIONS AS POSSIBLE
“Many seniors enjoy reflecting on past holidays as they unpack cherished decorations, so be sure to listen to their stories and ask about special items,” wrote Carol Bradley Burbank in an article (https://www.agingcare.com/articles/amp/148441), “Tips for Reducing Loneliness in Elders Around the Holidays,” for the web site Aging Care. Call on an elderly relative’s memories to enrich a night of decorating sugar cookies or trimming the tree. One family’s patriarch had a long tradition of making dozens of caramel popcorn balls and distributing them to his large family at an annual party. As he lost his spouse and grew more infirm, his extended family stepped in to help him keep what was, for him, a cherished tradition and a chance to contribute to his family’s holidays. Thanks to his family, the tradition continued until grandpa’s death in his late 90s, tethering him to past good times while brightening each new holiday.
CONSIDER THE FUTURE
As you decide how best to host an elderly loved one this season, think ahead to when the holidays are over. Is your loved one’s home free of the kinds of hazards and challenges you’ve been trying to remove from your own house? If not, one of the best gifts you could give your loved one is looking into how Evolve could help bring together benefits to which your relative is entitled and the contractors who could help make their home even safer and more accommodating of their changing needs. Contact us to talk about the options available in your state.
Ultimately, each family’s holiday hosting solutions will be as individual as the needs of the elderly relatives they love. What matters most is taking the time to help each family member feel a part of things and experience the warmth of this time of year.