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What are your tips for staying independent at your own home?

Posted by Colleen Young, Connect Director @colleenyoung, Aug 31, 2023

Many people say they’d prefer to grow old in their own homes. What are your tips for remaining independent as long as possible. What do you do to:
- Keep up with home maintenance and housekeeping?
- Avoid injuries around the house?
- Combat loneliness or stay connected?

Any other tips?

October 25, 2023: Update from the Community Director

The knowledge exchange shared in this discussion helped to create this article written for the Mayo Clinic app and website. Knowledge for patients by patients and beyond Mayo Clinic Connect. Thank you for all your tips.

Aging at home: Advice for staying independent

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Aging Well Support Group.

methel | @methel | Apr 4 1:01pm
In reply to @bclane "I recently posted this on the group for caregivers for dementia patients, but it's good to..." + (show)
@bclane

I recently posted this on the group for caregivers for dementia patients, but it's good to help with remaining independent no matter your circumstances. I care for my husband and the thing with Gene Hackman and his wife made me realize that if some emergency happened to me (stroke, heart attack, bad fall, etc.), he wouldn't know what to do. I read about this site that lets you set up a time to check in each day and, if you don't, they notify the emergency contacts you give them. There's a free plan and a paid one. I think it's a great thing even if you're twenty years old and healthy, but living alone. For seniors, it's a gotta-have in my opinion, along with things like smart watches, etc.
https://www.snugsafe.com/

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The state of Maryland offers this as a free service of the state department of aging to citizens of Maryland.

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happilyalive | @happilyalive | Apr 7 8:32am
In reply to @edsutton "Practice Imaginative ProActivity! Go through your house and your daily routines imagining that 1) You are..." + (show)
@edsutton

Practice Imaginative ProActivity!

Go through your house and your daily routines imagining that
1) You are having dizzy spells.
2) You are in a wheelchair or walker (borrow them to test)
3) You can't reach higher than your shoulder or lower than your mid-thigh
4) You can't lift heavy things (like a large iron skillet) or your hands are weak
5) You have trouble with complex sequences
6) Your vision is fuzzy

What can you do about this?

If you want to age in your house, Now is the time to start preparing your house and now is the time to coordinate with your house mate.

Examples:
Make a walk in shower with chair now. There won't be time to do it when you've had surgery and need that shower chair to bathe.
Make sure you have grab bars and solid furniture along the route from bed to bathroom and toilet. Vertigo can come as a sudden surprise at 3am.
Make it a habit to not gather unnecessary things, and weed out clutter often.

Planning to care for ourselves as long as possible can be an enjoyable project.
It is self-empowering.
Start doing it now and you'll enjoy the feeling of lightness!

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Thank you for this post. I'm making a copy of it now to put on the fridge and work on each of these things. Most are already in place but some I need to improve on. Currently my husband is dealing with an injury he received while getting up in the middle of the night and falling due to hypotension. So, there are some things I wasn't prepared to conquer yet. It was a wake up call and this list will also help tremendously. Thank you for posting it.

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babbsjoy | @babbsjoy | 5 days ago

I am the caregiver for my father in my home. Recent evals with an OT revealed some things that I think we could all benefit from as we age in place. In addition to grab bars next to the toilet and in the shower, a bidet seat is recommended. I have spoken to our plumber, and these can range from those on Amazon that the OT recommended, to more upscale models that the plumber recommends (which have nightlights, clean selves, etc). A revelation to me!

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1 reply
edsutton | @edsutton | 4 days ago

Our $200 basic BioBidet seat works very well.
It's probably best to order soon before tariffs raise the prices.

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gravity3 | @gravity3 | 4 days ago
In reply to @babbsjoy "I am the caregiver for my father in my home. Recent evals with an OT revealed..." + (show)
@babbsjoy

I am the caregiver for my father in my home. Recent evals with an OT revealed some things that I think we could all benefit from as we age in place. In addition to grab bars next to the toilet and in the shower, a bidet seat is recommended. I have spoken to our plumber, and these can range from those on Amazon that the OT recommended, to more upscale models that the plumber recommends (which have nightlights, clean selves, etc). A revelation to me!

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We bought the Luxe Bidet Neo 120 on Amazon . About $40 for a budget purchase. Easy to install if you get the one with only cold water or if you are more handy than we are there is a model with warm water set up. What would we do without this?!!!

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1 reply
babbsjoy | @babbsjoy | 4 days ago
In reply to @gravity3 "We bought the Luxe Bidet Neo 120 on Amazon . About $40 for a budget purchase...." + (show)
@gravity3

We bought the Luxe Bidet Neo 120 on Amazon . About $40 for a budget purchase. Easy to install if you get the one with only cold water or if you are more handy than we are there is a model with warm water set up. What would we do without this?!!!

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@gravity3
Thx for the info! Yes, I’m really debating it all now. With the additional stuff we need to put in there, if we do the bidet (and toilet that goes with it) that the plumber recommends, and get an electrician out to do an outlet near the commode—we are looking at $2000 minimum (probably more, because the shower handheld got damaged somehow, think they will need to break through a closet wall to get into a shower wall and reinforce for grab bar, etc etc etc—snowballing here!) Yikes. But not sure my dad will use it if being hit with cold water….we will see! Plus, this is the only bathroom in the house that is really viable for him (it is en suite to his room and easily accessible with walker), all this work will take at least an entire day. Not sure what I could do with him for all that time…..Plus, he feels it’s been working fine for the last 4.5years he has been living here as is, so sees no reason for the changes. But his needs have gradually changed and I can see the necessity….

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cmdw2600 | @cmdw2600 | 3 days ago

Mine was about $250 and my two handy brothers installed it. I would not want a cold only option. Funny that my 11 year old grandson reports to his parents that he sits down to pee when he’s at Grandma’s because he loves the warm seat! I do too!

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ladydoz | @ladydoz | 3 days ago
In reply to @babbsjoy "@gravity3 Thx for the info! Yes, I’m really debating it all now. With the additional stuff..." + (show)
@babbsjoy

@gravity3
Thx for the info! Yes, I’m really debating it all now. With the additional stuff we need to put in there, if we do the bidet (and toilet that goes with it) that the plumber recommends, and get an electrician out to do an outlet near the commode—we are looking at $2000 minimum (probably more, because the shower handheld got damaged somehow, think they will need to break through a closet wall to get into a shower wall and reinforce for grab bar, etc etc etc—snowballing here!) Yikes. But not sure my dad will use it if being hit with cold water….we will see! Plus, this is the only bathroom in the house that is really viable for him (it is en suite to his room and easily accessible with walker), all this work will take at least an entire day. Not sure what I could do with him for all that time…..Plus, he feels it’s been working fine for the last 4.5years he has been living here as is, so sees no reason for the changes. But his needs have gradually changed and I can see the necessity….

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I have had a Genie bidet through Amazon for several years. It is cold water and is no problem once you try it. I was introduced to this bidet while staying at my son’s home. It is scary the first time as one has no idea of how it will feel. One just has to try it to know that the cold water is not freezing cold as it already is sitting in the pipe. I hope you father will try the cheaper cold water one.

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hellopam | @hellopam | 3 days ago
In reply to @scain "I am in total agreement with the shower chair post. Of course it only would work..." + (show)
@scain

I am in total agreement with the shower chair post. Of course it only would work if you have a walk in shower stall. But if you do it gives me much more confidence taking a shower. We have a hand held and rain like shower heads but I don't even need to use the hand held one. I don't fear falling on hard tiles or craving thru glass anymore. They are inexpensive and sturdy and clean. Highly recommend

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I actually have a bathtub and the shower chair works perfectly! I also had grab bars installed.

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sillyblone | @sillyblone | 3 days ago

We have 3 grab bars in our shower. My husband has an aversion to getting a shower. He cannot mange a tub. He will not use the shower chair. I cannot fathom why? He started this years ago in anything water. A pool, moving water( like a lazy river 3 ft.and a rubber raft, and will not get into a hot tub). I think it is because he feels like he is falling. We were on a cruise and we got off the ship. Three were docked. Lots of people. I looked at him and saw the fear in his eyes and knew it is time to go back. The wind was pushing us both. It was like my husband was a small child and scared to death. He described to me that he feels like his legs are moving when he is standing still.
I still can get him to sit on the shower chair when I shave him or I get him to soak his feet. Basically what you get in a nail salon. The funny thing is he always says" What would I do without you". "How do you know so much"? We start laughing and sometimes 🤣 we can't stop. You gotta love a man with a sense of humor. I think I get told "I love you" more during the pedicure. This may seem trivial..but it is worth it.

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