Tips for Preparing Your Home for an Alzheimer’s Patient?
I didn’t have time to prepare our home for Mother. When I discovered her wandering in the snow one morning when I visited her home (I couldn’t find her when I arose and then discovered she’d circumvented the lock on the door and was looking outside for her cat), I had to move her to our home a month earlier than planned.
However, since my husband and I had been making weekly trips to her home 275 miles away and staying for 2 or 3 days, I had some idea what I had to do when Mother came to live with us. If I’d had a checklist of items to prepare, though, it certainly would have helped.
In addition to the book above, A Complete Guide to Alzheimer’s Proofing Your Home, by Mark L. Warner, I discovered at Home and Family, a great article about Preparing Your Home for Caregiving by Maria Sandella. She provides tips in a number of categories:
- Common living areas
- Kitchen
- Bathroom
- Bedroom
- General Safety
- Special equipment that you may need
While this may seem like a lot of work on your part in order to get your home ready it really isn’t, Ms. Sandella says when she completes the check-list of suggestions.
Go through each room one at a time and make a list of things that need to be done, based on your loved ones disability or illness. You may find you are more prepared to be a caregiver than you thought you were.
Do you have any home preparation tips that have helped you. Let’s share!
(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen
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POSTED IN: Alzheimer's/Blogs, Alzheimer's/Books, Alzheimer's/Care, Alzheimer's/Personal Caregiving Experiences
1 opinion for Tips for Preparing Your Home for an Alzheimer’s Patient?
giulio
Mar 7, 2008 at 12:29 pm
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