How to Plan for Aging in Place

When thinking about aging and needing support, people often say that they wish to remain at home for as long as they can. This concept is ‘aging in place’, and it is possible to do, but it needs careful planning. If you believe you would be best in a care home, choosing the one you would most like is one of the decisions to make. If you wish to stay home, you may need to consider modifications much earlier. Read on below for some factors you must consider if you want to age in place.

Physical Modifications

Your care is something that you may currently do without much consideration. However, you must think carefully about how you will perform care functions such as washing, dressing, and feeding yourself as your physical abilities deteriorate. Try performing your daily shuffling along the floor – this will highlight any areas that might be dangerous for you when you are older; bathrooms in particular might need altering to walk-in options. If you are serious about remaining at home, then you will need to modify your home (including handrails and ramps) to allow you to remain safely.

Support Available

You may have set your home up perfectly for your final years, but your ability to wash yourself and feed yourself is hard to predict. A housekeeper carer in London or based near you might be the best option. These professionals can perform medical care needs as you might expect. However, they also perform house functions such as helping with personal hygiene tasks, shopping and preparing meals and providing transport.

There are also laundrette services, meals on wheels, gardeners and other such services which can provide a lot of help in your daily life. You can think carefully about what sort of help you would need and at what stages. Relying solely on family is not a reasonable option; they may be able to help at the start, but soon your needs will outstrip their time and their abilities – you need to have other plans in place.

Mental Wellbeing

Your mental wellbeing is incredibly important and is often neglected when planning for aging in place. Moving into a care home or similar facility will automatically expose you to more people and activities – allowing better socialization and stimulation. If you remain at home, you will need to have plans in place to socialize. Joining local groups, particularly if they involve some form of exercise, will help you to stay physically and mentally healthy.

Care homes often encourage local people to visit and join in with activities, so see if that might be an option in your area.  Try to remain stimulated by finding various hobbies – if you start early, you will be more inclined to keep them up as your health and abilities decline. By having a range of different types, you can reduce ones that become too taxing but still have activities you love.

House Administration

Depending on the types of support you put in place, you may have this covered with home care. However, consider adding trusted family members onto important accounts and recording any administration information somewhere safe (such as how many bank accounts you have, your insurer, current prescriptions etc.). It might be that as you age, your memory starts to fail, or you can no longer make rational and considered decisions over prolonged periods of time. You should have a trusted person responsible for maintaining this side of your life – even if that is a lawyer rather than a family member.

The Last Straw

There is likely to come a time when you can no longer stay in your own home, and as part of your plan for aging in place, you need to think about your final straw. This will be different for everybody – some may say as soon as they cannot walk, some will say when they need overnight care, some will say absolutely never, even if they need round-the-clock nursing care in bed. Letting others know your endpoint will avoid a lot of unnecessary conversations in the future.