While adults of all ages can sustain injuries due to falling, this can be even more prevalent with older adults. On an annual basis, there are more than two million older adults seen in the emergency room due to injuries that occurred because they fell. This equates to a older adult falling every 11 seconds. Since more than 50% of these falls occur in the home, it’s important to take measures to prevent these accidents from occurring.
Both the American Association of Retired Persons and the National Conference of State Legislatures reported that most adults over 65 want to stay in their own home for as long as possible. This amounts to 90% of adults within this age bracket that want to age-in-place. In order to accomplish this goal, many senior citizens are choosing to modify their homes accordingly.
While some home modifications may not be currently needed, many homeowners are predicting the need for these changes. HomeAdvisor’s 2016 Aging in Place Report, for example, indicated that the bathroom was one of the main areas homeowners were planning to modify. Given the participants that were over 55 years of age, 48% stated that they had considered modifying this room.
While home service professionals were hired to perform other aging-in-place projects, these were the top ones, according to the above survey:
- Grab bar installations: 71%
- Entryway wheelchair ramps: 54%
The results of a recent survey revealed that approximately 53 million people within the United States are living with a disability. Limited mobility is the most common disability, and 6.8 million Americans use assistive devices as a result. In some cases, limited mobility may be temporary. This might include situations where someone has sustained injuries from a fall or is recovering from a surgical procedure or illness. For other Americans, however, limited mobility may be permanent.
In order to address limited mobility, whether it’s temporary, sporadic, or permanent, a home’s interior and exterior can be modified. All-weather ramps, for example, can be built to create ease of access to a home’s entryways. Wheelchair lifts for homes and vehicles can also make a significant difference. In addition to wheelchair lifts for vans and wheelchair lifts for SUVs, lifts are also available for scooters.
When adults choose to age-in-place, these and other modifications can make a profound impact on their quality of life. Since the home is where so many falls tend to occur, there are other measures that can be taken to reduce or prevent them altogether. When you contact a home service professional to make modifications to your house, it will be that much more safe and comfortable. Rather than aging-in-place, you may also discover that you’re thriving-in-place.