Contributed by Cindi Pearce, Catalogs.com Top 10 Guru

When you are young — let’s say anything shy of 40 –

… and in good health, kicking up your heels, staying out late, barely getting any shut-eye, but still able to do it all because you have boundless energy it doesn’t occur to you that at some point things are going to change.

No, you don’t have to throw in the towel and resign yourself to the Lazy Boy forever more at the age of 50 or 60 or 70 or even 80. Senior citizens can have an active life as long as they’re mentally and physically capable of doing so.
However, let’s be realistic. There is a time when your parents, or YOU, are going to become a little (or a lot) less independent because age brings a cacophony of obstacles with it, even for the healthiest octogenarian.
When you witness your parents’ struggle with old age and its perils, it starts to hit home. That may well be you in 20 or 30 years.

Many elderly people want to stay in their homes, which is certainly understandable, rather than going into a nursing home or some other type of senior care facility. This is possible, but the elderly person is going to need some help, not only from you or other caretakers but modifications may need to be made to the home and certain types of assistive equipment are in order so that the elderly person can continue being as independent as possible.

U.S. Medical Supplies

Ramps

Consider installing a ramp leading into the house. Older people often find it hard, if not impossible, to climb stairs. If they are confined to a wheelchair or using a walker, it becomes even harder. U.S. Medical Supplies has various types of ramps, which will make it easier for the older person in your life to get in and out of his house.

Senior Living Stores

Mobility

When a person is completely confined to a wheelchair, using an electric wheelchair is much easier on the person, particularly if the user is old and frail and doesn’t have much strength. Scooters are a wonderful invention. They allow people that are elderly or have handicaps to get out and about.

AmeriGlide

Going upstairs

When a person’s bedroom is upstairs, and he is confined to a wheelchair, a wheelchair stair climber enables the person to continue sleeping in his upstairs bedroom and does away with the limitations that wheelchair-bound people encounter At AmeriGlide stair lifts are perfect for the person who has a hard time getting up and down stairs. It also eliminates the risk of falling when an elderly or infirmed person is trying to go up or down stairs on their own, sometimes in the dark.

All Lift Chairs

Chairs

Do you grunt and groan when you try to get out of a chair? Imagine if you were 85 years old and suffering from arthritis and other infirmities. The lift chair like any from All Lift Chairs is perfect for the person who isn’t as agile as he once was. It reclines, too, so the individual can get some shut-eye while sitting in the chair.

Active Living Catalogs

Bathing

Bath lifts make it possible for a person to get in and out of his existing tub. The individual sits on the seat, presses a button that lowers the person into the tub, and that’s it. Additional assistive equipment for the bathroom includes hand grips, so it’s easier to pull oneself up from the toilet or to hang onto when stepping in or out of a tub or shower, mats to prevent slipping, perhaps even the installation of a telephone in the bathroom in case the person falls and needs help. There are handicap accessible showers and bathtubs. Wheelchairs easily roll into the handicap accessible shower because the lip is very small.