Home Modification Recommendations For Elderly Clients

Entrance to Front Door and Front Yard

Entrance to Front Door and Front Yard

• Lack of railings or unstable railing

Unsafe steps (too steep/cracked)

Unmarked or raised threshold

Lack of lighting at night

Lack of a ramp for a wheelchair

Uneven/cracked pavement

Ice or snow on driveway/walkway

Lack of an outdoor grab bar

Other:

Solutions/Modifications/Recommendations:

Presence of unstable railing provides no support to the client whereas it should be present to provide support while getting down the stairs present at the front door of the house. Lack of support might result accidents such as falls. A wooden railing or any such provision should be present in the front yard of the house.

Entrance to Back/Side Door

Lack of railings or unstable railing

Unsafe steps (too steep/cracked/chipped)

Unmarked or raised threshold

Lack of lighting at night

• Lack of a ramp for a wheelchair

Uneven/cracked pavement

Ice or snow on walkway

Lack of an outdoor grab bar

Other:

Solutions/Modifications/Recommendations:

With ageing there is always an uncertainty of health. Situations may arise where the client might need a wheelchair for provision of proper healthcare. If such situations arise, presence of a ramp will be required for convenient movement of the wheelchair.

Hallway or Foyer

• Uneven or slippery flooring

Cluttered area

Dark or poor lighting

Lack of access to ceiling light

Other:

Solutions/Modifications/Recommendations:

As already mentioned, old age often takes a toll on the strength of the muscle of the individuals. This reduces their capability to stay steady during walking or any other activity, therefore uneven or slippery flooring might increase the client’s difficulty to stay steady and might face an accident like fall.

Living Room

Presence of throw or scatter rug

Presence of clutter

Presence of electric cords across the floor

Poor lighting

Presence of unstable furniture

Presence of unstable chair

• Difficult to access light switches

Not enough space to move around

Other:

 Solutions/Modifications/Recommendations:

With growing age there is impairment mobility along with vision. Therefore if the switches of the light are available at an easily accessible location it would be quite beneficial to the client as well as his family.

Kitchen

Cabinet too high or low

Not enough counter space

• Using a stool or a chair to reach things

Not enough room to maneuver

Presence of throw/scatter rug

Slippery floor

Poor lighting

Presence of a pet underfoot when preparing meals

Other:

Solutions/Modifications/Recommendations:

Use of stools is not a good option during old age as it there is always a risk of fall. Such situations can be avoided if the shelves are located at more convenient heights.

Bedroom

Presence of clutter

Presence of electric cords across the floor

Unsafe carpet (uneven, torn, curled up)

Presence of throw/scatter rug

• Height of bed (too low/high_

Lack of a telephone near the bed

Lack of nightlight

Arrangement that causes difficulty to reach items (TV remote, lamp)

Lack of device to get in/out of bed

Other:

Solutions/Modifications/Recommendations:

Height of the bed might provide inconvenience to the client because getting up on the bed regularly which are high enough becomes difficult. Low beds are much more convenient since there body movement required is less as compared to that of getting up on high beds. Excessive body movements often becomes difficult at old age therefore such should be avoided.

Bathroom

Presence of unsafe bath rugs

• Lack of grab bars in the tub

Lack of grab bars in the shower area

Lack of grab bars near the toilet

Toilet is too high or low

Slippery tub (lack of bath mat, etc.)

Claw foot/tub that is too high to get into

Lack of bath chair in the shower area

Clutter

Incorrect placement of grab bars

Other:

Solutions/Modifications/Recommendations:

While getting out of the tub individuals often face difficulties since the water makes the spot slipper. Therefore provision of grab bars would be helpful for the client.

Staircases

Lack of or poor lighting

Lack of railings

Clutter

Steps too steep

• Slippery steps without tread/carpet

Other:

Solutions/Modifications/Recommendations:

With growing age there is a tendency to show mobility impairment since the muscles become weak. Therefore in such situation, to reduce the risk of falls, slippery steps should be avoided at any cost. Carpeting provides friction which reduces the slippery nature and hence enhances the grip of the foot on the floor, thereby preventing the chances of fall.

Laundry Room/Basement

• Poor or lack of lighting

Lack of railings

Clutter

Steps too steep

Slippery steps without carpet/luminous light

Presence of cords across the floor

Same colored floor at bottom of stairs

Other:

Solutions/Modifications/Recommendations:

Proper lightning like use of high voltage bulbs is especially required in the basements as there is no provision of natural light to come in.

1. For recommending suggestions for the respective client, it is important to identify mainly the health background. The individual is an older adult therefore chances of suffering from any disorder related to old age or any chronic disorder is high (Pergolotti et al., 2015). Once health conditions are recognized it would become easier for me to analyze the situations around the individuals and suggest ways in relation to the existing situation. Apart from the health issues, factors like family members or availability of caregivers and the quality of care that the individual has been receiving is also required. Moreover it is also important to aware of the daily activities of the individual so that it can be kept in mind before suggesting recommendations to improve his conditions or betterment of the conditions around him.
2. At first the client was not sure of the recommendation that were suggested to him since he has been living in the existing situation or with the resources for the past 40 years. Therefore all of a sudden the need for change was not that convincing for the patient. However later when the client went through the checklist in details, and was made to understand the need for the changes, it appeared to be more or less convincing and he agreed to implement the changes for the betterment of his lifestyle in the later years of his life.
3. As already mentioned the changes that were recommended to the client did not appear to be quite convincing initially. Therefore the client continuously questioned regarding the usefulness of the suggested changes in his home. According to the checklist I had recommended that it was not a wise choice for the switch boards to be located at such odd places or the shelves were too high in the kitchen due to which there was a need for using stools (Liu et al., 2013). The client questioned this because he has been using these resources for many years now and have yet not realized the disadvantages of the current situation.
4. The resources that were recommended to him were all related to his home like installing proper lighting wherever possible. It is an established fact that with growing age there is a tendency to have impaired vision and in conditions proper lighting becomes necessary. Absence of this can increase the risk of falls. Additionally I recommended change in the location of the switch boards especially in the living room. With growing age there is impairment mobility along with vision (Giné-Garriga et al., 2014). Therefore if the switches of the light are available at an easily accessible location it would be quite beneficial to the client as well as his family. Similarly use of stools is not a good option during old age as it there is always a risk of fall. Such situations can be avoided if the shelves are located at more convenient heights.
5. The assignment has given me an insight to the problems that the older adults generally face in their day to day lives. The assignment also helped me to understand the client’s mentality regarding their home and their resources and how they are attached to such things. The study also reflected the fact that the individuals who are in the latter stages of their life are more tend to show more rigidity in their thought process hence are more difficult to convince. They are less bothered regarding the quality of their life or care and focus more the health outcomes (Golisz, 2014).

References:

Giné-Garriga, M., Roqué-Fíguls, M., Coll-Planas, L., Sitjà-Rabert, M., & Salvà, A. (2014). Physical exercise interventions for improving performance-based measures of physical function in community-dwelling, frail older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 95(4), 753-769.

Golisz, K. (2014). Occupational therapy interventions to improve driving performance in older adults: A systematic review. American journal of occupational therapy, 68(6), 662-669.

Liu, C. J., Brost, M. A., Horton, V. E., Kenyon, S. B., & Mears, K. E. (2013). Occupational therapy interventions to improve performance of daily activities at home for older adults with low vision: A systematic review. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 67(3), 279-287

Pergolotti, M., Deal, A. M., Lavery, J., Reeve, B. B., & Muss, H. B. (2015). The prevalence of potentially modifiable functional deficits and the subsequent use of occupational and physical therapy by older adults with cancer. Journal of geriatric oncology, 6(3), 194-201.