Is Your Current Home Going to Meet the Future Needs That You and Your Spouse Have?

 

When you moved into your two story home with a walkout basement 20 years ago, your father joked that you could always convert the front door closet into a small elevator when you got too old to climb the stairs. You laughed at the time, but your father went on to explain that he has installed many chair lifts for homes for people of many ages. Although your two story home seemed like a perfect fit two decades ago, now that your daughters have both graduated from college, you and your husband are considering making some changes or making a move.

It is fairly easy to find wheelchair lifts for vehicles, but the idea of finding the right kind of wheelchair lifts for home. And while it is not yet necessary to have all of these plans in place, you are getting ready to make the modifications that your husband might need in the near future. You have been at the doctor’s appointments and hospital waiting rooms enough that you understand how things like portable patient lifts work, but the process of getting these items into your home present a challenge. The fact that your home has three floors, when the basement is included, means that simple portable patient lifts will not provide all of the help that you need.

• 2 million senior citizens visit the emergency room for injuries caused by a fall every year.
• Nearly 235,000 people experience injuries in the bathroom every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
• Older adults, the senior population, will account for roughly 20% of the U.S. population by the year 2030.
• An older adult is treated in the emergency room for a fall every 11 seconds.
• 50% of all falls among older adults take place at home.
• 90% of people over the age of 65 want to live in their home as long as they can, according to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and the National Conference of State Legislatures. In order for this to happen, however, many home owners have to be able to make significant modifications to their homes.

If your current home no longer allows you to live comfortably, you are likely making the choice between two difficult decisions: making modifications to your current space or moving into a new location.