Age-appropriate living for a fulfilling evening of life
Many seniors are healthy and spry into old age. They naturally want to maintain their independence as much as possible. But as vision declines and bones become stiffer, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage daily life at home. In this way, carpet edges become dangerous tripping hazards and stairs become insurmountable obstacles.
Then it's time to make your home barrier-free and equip it with ramps, a stair lift, and other technical equipment. So that also older and movement-restricted humans must make no cutbacks with the quality of life.
When should an age-appropriate conversion take place?
When it comes to age-appropriate living, it's better to be safe than sorry. In particular, the sudden appearance of an illness can cause a large number of problems. If the apartment was freely accessible today, the situation changes overnight, so to speak, in the event of a stroke or heart attack.
The person concerned then has to cope with both the illness and the fact that his or her own home is no longer accessible. This is where the conversion measures take place, which should enable age-appropriate living in the future. It is therefore advisable to plan for old age at an early stage when carrying out renovation measures.
Age-appropriate construction of a house
Each room in an apartment has a different function. Accordingly, different measures are necessary for each room. A checklist from the German government explains what these are.
The barrier-free entrance area
Most houses can only be reached via stairs. Therefore, experts advise to equip the entrance area with a ramp. If there is a large difference in height to be overcome, however, a ramp is less suitable because it may only have a very shallow gradient. Then it is necessary to consider whether a lift should not be installed. In houses with several floors, a vertical lift is a good solution.
In addition, there should be sufficient space for walking aids in the entrance area. Many seniors need a rollator for indoors and a wheelchair for outdoors. In this case, the hallway must have dimensions that allow both parking and changing walking aids comfortably. Such a changing place can also be placed outside the house. Corresponding houses made of sheet metal are offered in various home improvement stores.
The kitchen for seniors
In the kitchen it is necessary that the equipment is designed in such a way that all devices, drawers and cabinets can be reached in the sitting position. The first conversion step is considered to be the installation of a work surface that can be moved underneath. The oven must be installed at the height of the worktop and equipped with a pull-out tray for hot food.
Instead of the usual shelves are suitable pharmacist cabinets, which are horizontally extendable, so that also equipment in the rear area can be reached. For wall cabinets there are meanwhile technologies such as a Absenkautomatik. This then moves the cabinets 40 cm down and 20 cm forward, allowing them to be used while seated.
Design shower, bathroom and toilet in accordance with the needs of the age group
In the bathroom, limited mobility is the first thing that becomes noticeable. For the shower there are solutions such as the lifting seat or a bathtub with door. However, the most practical and cost-effective solution is the floor-level shower. It should measure at least 150 x 150 cm and be equipped with a seat.
Faucets in the bathroom should be operated by swiveling levers and be equipped with scalding protection. The toilet flush is easier to operate with pushers than with levers. On one side is ca. Leave 90 cm of space so that it is easy to change from a wheelchair. Folding support handles round off the age-appropriate toilet in the home.