
90-year-old housemate? Time to adapt!
In an ageing population, caring for an elderly relative will be something that many of us experience.
You might have given vague consideration to how your life and home might accommodate a frail visitor in the dim and distant future. But dealing with the reality can be a bit of a wake-up call.
Considering how we want relationships with the generation above to play out isn’t something that we usually dwell on. Nobody wants to consider how they’ll cope emotionally and practically when the moment comes.
In his book, Ramblebook, comedian Adam Buxton talks about the moment that he realised he wanted his elderly father to move in with him:
“My sister called and said she’d just accompanied our dad to a meeting with the doctor. He’d been told he had mesothelioma, cancer of the lining of the lung. ‘Could be worse,’ I thought. How important is a bit of lung lining? After all, if you have a favourite jacket and the lining gets knackered, you can still wear that jacket, right? According to the doctor, lungs and jackets aren’t as similar as you might think, and Dad was given three to 12 months to live. He was 91, well into bonus time but, still, it’s not what anyone wants to hear. In light of my sister’s call and the news of his grim prognosis, I realised that moving Dad in … was my last opportunity, not only to play the part of the dutiful son, but to finally get to know him in a way that would afford me lasting emotional closure.”
Adapting your home to accommodate an older person
Bringing a loved one into your home, so you can spend time together in the last months or years of their life, is something that many people think about doing, both for emotional and practical reasons. We have helped many families adapt their homes to accommodate an older relative moving in. We can’t help you navigate the emotional rollercoaster that comes with living with a parent after decades apart, but we can help you sort the house.
Simple home adaptation adjustments to make a difference
Dealing with practical adjustments and understanding what’s viable then gives you the headspace to deal with everything else. You might want to explore installing voice commands for lights and temperature controls. Or perhaps there are specific areas of the home that your new house guest might struggle with?
Most people have stairs and bathrooms at the top of their list because they’re thinking primarily about safety and using the bathroom independently. A stairlift and adapting a bath to a walk-in shower are not huge changes and can be done reasonably quickly. If you’ve got a keen cook moving in you might want to adapt your kitchen so it’s more accessible.
Local home adaptation companies have the ability to act quickly
A recent customer was preparing to move in his 97-year-old father. They started with a stairlift before moving on to a bathroom and upstairs bedroom adaptation. We know that time is precious, so these changes were scheduled quickly once the work was agreed.
We always get back to people swiftly and respect that there might be an urgency to the home adaptations you want to make. Free your mind to focus on spending precious time with your family and leave the practical changes to the house to us.
Call our friendly team today on 029 2061 1277, or complete the contact form.
