Have you made any small home changes to make life safer as you get older?

[OneUmberJoker]

Getting a new hate so my dog doesn't escape

Not yet although our DC were insistent we get something for the walk in shower in case we slipped so we have duck boards.

We have a tiled floor at the foot of our stairs and having known two people die after falling
down stairs I’m thinking how we could mitigate that risk.

My friend persuaded her mum to get an island / large table in the middle of her (huge) kitchen so there’s more to hold on to (the mum is not 100% stable on her feet)

this doesn’t seem an age related thing op

more like basic common sense kicking in

Recently refurbished our en-suite and had a slightly higher toilet to assist in our old age ( me 55 DH 60)

Comfort height toilet. I'm going to change the path to the front door to a ramp, replacing a couple of steps, and make sure it's non slip. I'm considering putting a dado rail down the hallway as something to grip. Grab rails in the shower and the bath.
I've widened part of the hallway to be wide enough for a wheelchair at it's narrowest point.
I've moved all my plug points up the wall a bit so I don't have to bend so much to them, they are just below the height of side tables.
I've added plug in movement triggered lights around the house so when I get up on the night the floor is gently lit so I won't trip over anything.
I've smart lights in most rooms so I can tell alexa to turn on lights, and my heating is hive so I can control it from an app.

Extra banister rail going up the stairs.
Grab rail in the shower.
Step so I can get into the bath/shower with less wobbling due to bad hip.
Step outside back door as it's a little bit higher than usual.
Banister rail to help me up a sloping drive - more in anticipation of icy weather.
My previous house had a higher toilet as we are a tall family, I miss it a lot.

Walk in, non slip floor shower

Walk in, non slip floor shower

Same question is on Gransnet…!

When I had a bathroom and WC fitted, I had stainless grab rails fitted, usable as, and disuised as, towel rails.

I had "pigs ear" handrails fitted on the blank walls, balancing the banister on the other hand.

We recently renovated what had been a derelict property, so we'd never lived there beforehand. DH and I are both late 40's, but thinking ahead:

-comfort toilet seats in all bathrooms (squatty potty for anyone short or need it)
-Made a downstairs bathroom. Not sure it would be large enough for a wheel chair, but the shower tray is only 4cm high, could fit a commode chair and likely be large enough to wheel a chair in if needed.
-A large, sunroom area has the potential to have a stud wall installed to become a downstairs bedroom. The windows, lights and heating were installed with this specifically in mind if needed. It also could be an independent living area with its own bathroom and outside door access
-Changed the entire downstairs to 1, level flooring. Previously there was a step into the utility and another at the front.

Things I've found useful since I became somewhat infirm and unsteady on my feet, amongst other lovely things 😁.

A chair lift

A walk in shower and shower chair

Three rollators, one upstairs, one down stairs and one used outside

Grab rails on the outside doors

A pick up stick so I don't have to bend over

A riser/recliner chair

In the New Year I'll be getting remote control blinds for my living room, oh and importantly I have a weekly cleaner who specialises in helping infirm people, so is as happy to change my bedding as they are to wrapping my Xmas presents.

Can I add a suggestion? Make sure the name or number of your house is clearly visible from the road. Check this for elderly relatives too. I work for the ambulance service and it makes it so much easier to find where we’re supposed to be going!

Not yet, but I want to change house before I'm at that stage anyway.

We had our bathroom redone not too long ago and I now wish we’d done a walk in shower. I have severe Rheumatoid Arthritis and it seems to be getting worse, so getting in and out the bath is a struggle.

Could still do it as we have a few boxes of tiles left, so wouldn’t be a huge job. Will look at this in the new year.

Didn’t think I’d have to be worrying about this at 53.

We did exactly the same when we did our house “comfort height” toilets-I take bad when I use a regular height toilet now as it feels so low down😂
Banisters on both sides of the stairs rather than just one.
we have a couple of downstairs bedrooms we can use if need be.
walk in showers upstairs and downstairs

to be fair I’m probably hyper aware of these things as my dad had poor mobility and there were a lot of similar minor adjustments in his house so it’s kind of second nature to do that kind of future planning

Not me but my DParents are getting a new shed so they don’t have to use the loft for storage. The loft is accessed by a ladder so it’s sensible not to be going up and down there, especially carrying heavy or bulky items.

Walk in shower in a new downstairs bathroom. Grab rails in bathrooms. I can't actually get in or out of a bath now, so the downstairs extension has been great. I need a grab rail near the front door as we have steps, but I worry about visibility from the street in case I get mugged. Eventually I will get a stair lift - cheaper than moving.

As well as house adjustments, look at what can you do for yourself physically. You need to work on your strength and mobility, and be consistent with it. Good health in old age is not a passive thing.

You can ram your home full of adaptations, but if you can't get out of your chair and struggle to walk without losing balance, it's a bit pointless.

When I moved into my ground floor flat I had the bath taken out and a walk in shower and grab rails put in. After 2 spinal ops 2 hip replacements and awaiting a knee replacement I haven’t been able to use a bath for years sadly. Does anyone have a recommendation for a comfort height toilet?

As a therapist working in a stroke team, tbh this is all great to hear ❤️

We’ve had our bathroom done so that we have a walk in shower and it does feel like we dodged a bullet - our previous bathtub was quite old and definitely not designed to be stood in, I nearly fell a couple of times. DP loves a good shower so that was the main motivation but I did think the previous setup was a hip fracture waiting to happen.

One of the many reasons to sell my previous house was that the staircase was a complete death trap - jerrybuilt 1880s 2 up 2 down with an extremely steep and narrow set of stairs with no window.

Have to say though, it was not a small thing - required some major works including removing an unused 70s boiler and putting the hot water tank in the attic - all cost a fortune. Not really accessible work for a lot of people. But it’s done now for whoever owns the house after we’ve gone [visualises them bringing the hot water tank back down again with cries of ‘why did they do that’].

I was on 2 walking sticks last year before a hip replacement due to hip dysplasia and have psoriatic arthritis so we are reasonably well sorted but need a downstairs toilet.

The property was a probate property and had an extra handrail so have left that. The stairs are really easy compared to last house and I was able to get up them the same night I had hip replaced. Walk in shower in our en-suite plus comfort height Burlington regal toilet. The shower pipe is over the tiles and handy to hold onto and will put grab rails in.

I’m thinking of raising the height of the washing machine but got round that before by having a lightweight directors chair that was easy to take where I needed and sat in that and used the grabber.

I'm at the end of a bathroom refurb. I've swapped out the bath for a walk in shower, fitted grab rails and a shower seat. I'm 54.

Walk every day.
strength exercises.
practice getting up of the floor daily.
no bath, only a shower.
changed the pans from cast iron to aluminium
smaller kettle so lighter when full
no carpets / rugs on ground floor (trip hazzard)