Getting older is rarely easy. While your body might be the first thing that shows your age, the older you get, the more likely it is that you’ll also start to experience age-related memory issues as well.
While not all older people will be diagnosed with dementia or need to live in a memory care facility in order to get the help they need. Many people can remain in their homes for quite some time. Luckily, there are some things you can do in your home or in the home of a loved one if memory starts to become a problem.
To help you learn just what these things are, here are three ways to adjust your home when you start having age-related memory issues.
Streamline The Layout Of The Home
One of the first things you should do as someone gets older, whether or not they start to have memory-related issues, is to streamline their home in order to make living there easier for them.
To do this, you may want to start with removing and rearranging the furniture in the house to make access and mobility the priority. You may also want to make doors and walkways wider so that you can fit a walker or wheelchair around the home if that becomes necessary in the future.
Make Everything Easier To See
As an older person’s memory starts to fail them, their eyes might start to play tricks on them, too. Knowing this, you should strive to make everything in the home easier to see and understand.
As part of this, you should consider adding more lights to each room and to areas of the home that might be darker, like underneath the kitchen cabinets and in storage cupboards. Additionally, you can also add images to cabinets and drawers that are used for storing things so that your elderly loved one can easily know what’s in certain places when they need to find something.
Combat Overwhelming Feelings
As someone starts aging and begins having problems with their memory, making decisions about everyday things can become intimidating and overwhelming.
To combat these overwhelming feelings, you should consider removing a large number of the options that your elderly loved one has with things like eating or dressing. By taking away some of the clothes they didn’t wear much and having only a few options for things to eat at each meal, you may find that your loved one doesn’t get as easily overwhelmed at home.
If you know your loved one wants to stay in their home as they age, consider using the tips mentioned above to make adjustments around the house that will make this transition easier for everyone.
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