How To Prepare Your Home for an Elderly Parent

Adult children have begun to rethink nursing homes for their parents. All across America, in-law suites and granny flats are now permanently occupied by parents who are aging in place with their children just a room or a garden away. However, your home may need some remodeling to make it work. The extent of the remodeling you need to get done depends on the original design. Here are some things everyone needs to consider.

Prioritizing Accessibility

Some people have extra living space above a detached garage or in an attic apartment. When parents are still relatively young and in good health, this may work. For longterm and permanent arrangements, consider a flat or installing a lift. Those stairs will only become more difficult to climb as time goes by. Also, consider maneuverability inside the space just in case they later become wheelchair bound.

Balancing Socialization With Autonomy

Every family is different and you will have to consider the needs of both units that will become blended when making decisions. Should you design a space that allows for more inclusion as one household? Or, should you create an almost separate apartment so that your parents can retain autonomy? If they have friends, how will they entertain? These are just some of the questions you may need to address and work out together.

Prepare for Updates

No matter how much you try to think of everything, new needs may arise during everyday use. This may require the contractor to come back in a few weeks or even the next few years to make adjustments. Try to make preparations for this, both financially and design-wise. You don’t want to create a space so constricted that you have no room to make changes without costly partial demolitions.

Good contractors start the remodeling process off by showing you several designs that may work for your home. They also help to point out future updates that may become necessary over time so you can plan for the future.