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

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.

Profile picture for SusanEllen66 Susan McMichael @SusanEllen66

Oh boy. Yes. I have been diagnosed with a disorder Functional Neurological Disorder FND. I am now close to being pretty much house bound. This disorder makes me fall (twice this year) even though I use a walker. My brain causes me to fall backwards so I hit my head and hurt my jaw joint.
I have double vision, tremors when I’m anxious and a whole host of other problems.
Arthritis, fibromyalgia, and polyneuropathy are the icing on my cake.

I live alone.
I’ve lined up a network of help. My food is delivered from the grocery store. My house gets cleaned every month. My neighbors roll my trash cans down the driveway to the street.
My hair stylist comes to my house.
My friend calls me every night to check on me. My son lives near by if I need help around the house.
I keep busy with jigsaw puzzles, painting, and building my family tree on Ancestry.

I am as well as I can be at almost 77.

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@SusanEllen66
I forgot to add, I live in a Condo so all the outdoor stuff is taken care of.

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only thing i might add would be if you are a woman who is used to wearing high or higher heels, i'd recommend lowering them or converting to flats if you are in fear of falling,

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Profile picture for Sue, Volunteer Mentor @sueinmn

@kjoed53 Oh, I get this "...I'm learning and changing slowly but not happily. For me it's about being useful and I just have to get into the mindset that my definition of useful has to change with my decline in physical abilities..."
I am one day out from a spinal injection, seven weeks out from wrist replacement, on my way to becoming bionic, and determined to keep moving - my spouse is the same - but we are a LOT slower (and wiser) in our approach to life.

We recently hired someone (3 young people) to do some overdue refreshing in our home - things like painting ceilings, and tall entryways, building out a new closet, and replacing flooring - they also ended up painting almost every room in our contracted time. 10 years ago we would have done it all ourselves and gone dancing afterwards, but now we admitted that it would have taken us 2 months to do what they did in 4 days! So I get to spend my energy making my sewing room accessible for the long run, clearing unused stuff out of nooks and crannies, and rearranging furniture, shelves and paintings in our fresh space. The same with our 1/4 acre yard with extensive perennial gardens - I now have helpers 1/2 day per week, doing the heavy work like spreading mulch, moving big plants, trimming bushes, and helping with weeding. In the fall a couple comes for 2-3 hours to "put the yard to bed" - job that would now take me a few hours a day for a week!
We really love our house, location and neighbors, so we plan to stay. Our son-in-law already scoped out where we will place an elevator to serve garage (on grade) and living levels up & down 7 steps from the entry. We didn't think about steps when we bought the house over 40 years ago!
But we have been adding railings, grab bars, upgraded lighting for years. Heavy and awkward items have been taken off high shelves (learned after shoulder surgery & wrist replacement.) There are safe step stools upstairs, downstairs and in the garage, and the big ladders have new homes - no more climbing on chairs or extension ladders!

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@sueinmn yes to the sewing room. I just bought a new sewing machine that has features that will likely help me keep sewing. Start stop button in place of foot pedal, automatic needle threader, and so on.
I’m glad I got it now so I can learn how to use it.

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National and state emergency agency web sites have "disaster preparation checklists."
Many of the recommendations can help you organize your home management systems.

Our pantry is now organized with easy to prepare food supplies which have made our daily cooking and shopping easier. We also organized with neighbors to purchase basic foods in bulk. It's more economical and it makes our shopping list simpler.

Organized medicines and supplements made it easier to keep things in order when one of us was ill. If you take multiple medicines, make a daily checklist.

Make a printed page of your medical history, necessary medications, doctors and insurance, ready in case you must make a trip to the emergency room.

Have flashlights and other emergency lights in place in case of midnight power outages. (Those night lights in the wall outlets will not work in a power outage.)

You'll find these things come in handy in non-emergency moments.

If you're buying a car, learn about the many newer safety features some cars offer: lane drift warning, parking guidance, speed warning and following too close warning and braking. Focus your attention when driving!

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My new home is one level with all hardwood floors. I am 80 with severe stenosis and scoliosis making it difficult for me to stand or walk for more than a few minutes. I can walk for a long time with a cart in a store so I purchased a rollator to use in my home which helps to remind me to stand up straight. I also use it to walk a mile each day in my home. Recently, I used the rollator to attend a craft fair. It has a seat so if I need to sit down, I can. The rollator has given me so much more freedom, I cannot believe it!

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Join a village in your community! There are 350 such organizations in the U.S., whose mission is to help older adults age in their own homes. Villages provide support in three areas: 1) practical (rides, home maintenance, tech help and lots more), 2) cultural/educational (my village offers ~15 - 20 programs annually...topics of local or current interest and age-related topis) and 3) social (monthly Happy Hours and 2 large annual parties). Villages range in size from 4 to 2,800 participants...so lots of options! A Village to Village Network provides models and communication among villages. Enjoy!

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Profile picture for marbe6161 @marbe6161

only thing i might add would be if you are a woman who is used to wearing high or higher heels, i'd recommend lowering them or converting to flats if you are in fear of falling,

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@marbe6161 absolutely! I wear shoes by the company “Hey Dude”. They are a slip in “boat shoe”. like a sneaker, but different. I get mine on Amazon.

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Profile picture for susiewordsmith @susiewordsmith

Join a village in your community! There are 350 such organizations in the U.S., whose mission is to help older adults age in their own homes. Villages provide support in three areas: 1) practical (rides, home maintenance, tech help and lots more), 2) cultural/educational (my village offers ~15 - 20 programs annually...topics of local or current interest and age-related topis) and 3) social (monthly Happy Hours and 2 large annual parties). Villages range in size from 4 to 2,800 participants...so lots of options! A Village to Village Network provides models and communication among villages. Enjoy!

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@susiewordsmith I have never heard about anything like that in “neighborhoods”.
Where are these Villages, and who pays for the activities?

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