You may have come to the time in your life where you need to consider senior care services. You, your parents, grandparents or someone you care about have come to the age where they need assistance in daily living. Make sure you don’t overlook the safety of the home when shopping for senior care services.

The top two premature killers of the elderly are medication errors and hazards in the home. Both are preventable, it just takes foresight. Home Health Agencies can take care of the medication and personal care in senior care services. Until recently nobody considered care of the home health hazards past loose rails and trip hazards.

Having your home made safe is a primary concern with senior care services. A senior’s home may have invisible killers in it. Mold and mildew, lead and asbestos can all contribute to undermining the health of you and your family. Most furnace service companies do not routinely check for carbon monoxide or blocked chimneys. While the younger generations may be somewhat resilient to these toxins, the elderly are more compromised. These also should be considered in the plan for your senior care services.

A hot water tank set below 138 degrees F. can allow Legionella to grow which causes a form of pneumonia. If nobody checks and corrects the water temperature, a senior could just continue from one bout of pneumonia to the next. A home health person may check if an outlet operates or an extension cord is frayed, but the exterior wires to the home could be worn, or the fuse box unsafe.

Senior Home Safety Network inspectors recently discovered a senior parent heating their home with the gas range. Her daughter knew that the mother was hiding a problem, but lived too far away to check on the home herself.

Collectively, it can be safely said that injury due to environmental problems in the home account for a major part of nursing home admissions and in home deaths. Few things are sadder than the stories one hears on the news of an elderly person who died at home because they fell, had a fire or defective furnace. What’s more, it could have been prevented if home inspections were thought of as part of senior care services.

The day may one day come when you have to admit your parent to a long term care facility for senior care services. If you or your parents own the home, it is in your best interest to get the maximum value that you can if you have to sell it. A home that is inspected and then well maintained sells for a better price.

It is inevitable that the home will be inspected when it is sold, Why not have a senior living in safety now instead of correcting the defects when they are gone?

Senior home safety inspections can help maximize the resell value of the home, a value that you may one day have to rely on. In the interest of your family’s senior care services, you should definitely include a home safety inspection.

Aging in place is a fairly new name for an old concept. Essentially, it is enabling our aging citizens to live at home in their golden and twilight years. To them, there wasn’t a name for it; it was just something you did. If your parents and grandparents reached retirement age or became disabled, they lived at home

Over the years, the idea of taking care of one’s aging family members has fallen to the wayside, and the population of long term care residents increased dramatically. In our new fast-paced society, children often live far away from parents and even when they are close, there simply wasn’t time or resources to care for our aging relatives.

Now, with the demands upon the sandwich generation, knowing how long to help mom and dad keep their independence and when to help them move to a senior care facility is a gut wrenching decision in which the home’s safety is a critical issue. In most instances, keeping the home safe creates a better quality of life.

Timing is also an important issue as the financial cost of long term care facilities is soaring. The life savings of seniors must meet the financial needs for a lifetime of care. Aging in place in safe housing preserves assets for future needs.

Home Health Agencies sprang up to meet the personal needs of seniors. While many advances have been made in Home Health Care, it only addresses half the needs of those who are aging in place. Medications and direct patient care have reached a high level of efficiency, but the missing element is often the home itself.

Social workers often work in conjunction with Home Health Agencies to address the safety concerns of the aging in place elderly. However, professional and dedicated their efforts, they understand the needs of the people, but not the home. They lack both the tools and training to recognize many of the defects such as an unsafe furnace, bad wiring or toxic mold.

This is where privatized senior home safety network inspectors can come into play. They can ensure that a home where a senior is aging in place is safe and secure from physical and health hazards. The inspectors understanding of the nature of the defects makes them well equipped to recommend the best corrective measures.

Our parents and grandparents lived through extraordinary times. They faced The Great War and The Great Depression. The environment that they grew up in bred a fierce sense of independence in them. The last thing they want is to feel helpless. Aging in place isn’t just an option for them—it’s a right.

It is our duty now, as their children, to do the same for them that they did for their children and parents. Aging in place is an issue of dignity and pride for them. Having lived through the times they did, and having provided for our safety as we grew up, it is only right to provide for their safety as they approach their twilight years.

Many families try to avoid placing their parents in long term care facilities even when the time comes that it seems like it is the right thing to do. However, there are many risks for the elderly living at home. The top two killers of seniors who don’t live in a senior care facility are medication errors and hazards in the home. Senior home safety inspections can minimize the potential threats to your parents and grandparents.

As the baby boomer generation enters retirement, there will be a rapid increase in senior citizens living alone. As it is, there are many elderly people already living in substandard housing. This will become more of a problem as time goes on. Private senior home safety inspections are a new solution to this dilemma.

Even now, many of our country’s senior citizens live in very old or poorly maintained houses. Some still live on the old family farm. While this may on the surface seem to be an ideal situation. The wiring in the house may be old and worn, presenting a fire hazard. Old chimneys, bad furnaces and leaking plumbing are a few of the many home safety hazards. With a plan for senior home safety inspections in place, problems such as these can be addressed.
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Senior home safety inspections don’t just serve the purpose of protecting the elderly living at home. Your peace of mind over your family’s welfare is at stake as well. If you’ve ever visited your aging mother’s house and seen a fresh burn from the stove or a skin tear from the edge of a counter, you know too well the distress of seeing the danger they can be in. Even with the best of intentions, if you live across the country, you can’t continually check their home for safety, and you probably don’t know anyone who can check all of the types of safety issues.

Additionally, there will probably come a time when your loved one will need caregivers to come and assist them with their needs. The workers also deserve protection from the home safety risks. Mold and other environmental factors will not just affect your mother or father, but also the staff coming to take care of them. Having senior home safety inspections can prevent not only undue illness for your family member, but also sickness and missed days for the people who take care of them.

The benefits of inspections aren’t just limited to the direct health and safety of your parent or their staff, either. They allow you to lower maintenance costs and increase the property value of the home. The irony of the home inspections is that the home will eventually be inspected for the new owner of the home.. Why not have seniors live in safety, now?

Since the safety of your loved one in their golden years is of primary concern, it only makes sense to have senior home safety inspections. It’s the best thing for them, for you, and for those who take care of them.