Our Certified Aging In Place Specialist can evaluate your house and make prioritized retrofit recommendations to make you safer.
Everyone knows how quickly and easily a fall can happen at home. According to the Home Safety Council, nearly 5.1 million people in America are injured by falls in and around the home annually.
And it was sobering for me to read recently that one in every three adults aged 65 and older will suffer a fall this year. That has pretty big public health ramifications.
If you’ve read this blog in recent months you know how attuned and supportive we are both to intergenerational living (ADUs provide an excellent opportunity for it) and to making existing homes serve people better. Home safety is therefore 
forefront on our minds, particularly as our population grows older. That’s why we’ve launched a new Home Safety Assessment as part of our Universal Design Services.
Through the assessment, a Certified Aging in-Place Specialist (that’s me!) comes out to the home to:
- discuss changes that may help you or your loved ones live in the house longer,
- walk through and evaluate the residence,
- present a list of suggested modifications, repairs and preventative safety measures, and
- consult with you to plan and prioritize retrofit options.
Our experienced project managers and career carpenters can then carry out the retrofit measures with their trademark craftsmanship and aplomb. These measures might include:
- securing railings that lead up and down staircases,
- fixing uneven steps,
- installing grab bars in the bathroom,
- reorganizing cabinets to avoid unnecessary reaching and bending,
- rerouting electrical cords,
- removing area rugs and frayed carpeting,
- reducing clutter from walkways,
- and lots more.
It’s easy to overlook the importance of safety in our homes, but by making fairly straightforward improvements we can protect against falls and keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. And this isn’t just for the aging amongst us, either. Many home safety retrofit measures protect wobbling toddlers from dangerous falls as well.
Please see our Universal Design Services page for more info and to schedule your home safety assessment today!
– Stacey Foisy, Certified Aging In Place Specialist (CAPS) for Hammer & Hand
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