As our parents or grandparents get older, they become more dependent on us than ever. While taking care of their mental and physical health, it is also important to ensure their security. You can’t stay at home with them at all times, leaving your jobs and other business, but you would always be anxious about what is going on back home when you are away.
In this case, what you can do is secure your home, which is one of the prime components of your care for your loved ones. In this article, we will guide you through a wide range of things you can do to make your home a haven for your elders.
Table of Contents
1. Turn Home into a Smart Home
With the increased use of technology, smart home devices have become incredibly popular. Today, seniors use smart tools and applications to keep tabs on their diet, medication, exercise, etc. However, several smart home devices are powered with incredible features to help provide robust security to seniors.
Let’s take the example of smart doorbells; they will allow seniors to see who is at the doorstep without opening the door, indirectly fending off the chances of burglary. Plus, smart doors are better than peepholes because seniors can see who is at the door on their phones without having to walk to the doors, which they might have difficulty with. You may install smart locks at home as well, which you can control remotely. No matter where you are, you can lock and unlock the doors for seniors, taking them out of trouble. Smart CCTV cameras and smoke and fire alarms are other devices that you should install at home. These devices come with smart sensors that can detect a possible threat, and you set them up for alerts to know what happened at home. Lastly, intelligent speakers like Google Home can allow seniors to call 911 when they are in trouble.
It is evident that by using smart home devices, you will always have peace of mind knowing that your loved ones are safe. But to ensure all devices are functioning and you are getting timely alerts, make sure you invest in a reliable home internet. If you seek our recommendation, we would suggest Cox. It offers high-speed internet with 24-hour assistance. If you speak Spanish, you may explore Cox en español to find, and choose a perfect home internet plan.
2. Design an Emergency Exit Plan
Accidents happen without any prior notice, and they can happen anytime and anywhere even after caging your home with stringent security devices. However, it is always important to be prepared for any such situation. In essence, you need to make an emergency plan and explain it to your seniors so that if they get stuck in an emergency, they know what to do or how to escape. Also, this gives you peace of mind that in case of an emergency, your family will be safe.
Explaining the emergency plan to seniors is not enough because, at the time of the event, it is natural to act up with nervousness. Make sure you make them practice emergency measures so that they aptly know how to get out of trouble when something unexpected happens. Moreover, it is essential to review and update the emergency plan to ensure utmost safety.
People who may be coming over to your home to stay for a few days must be made aware of emergency plans as well.
3. Do Not Overshare on the Internet
We tend to put every detail about happenings in our lives on the internet. We post pictures and update our check-ins to new places, but we don’t realize that people without malicious intents, lurking on the internet, may take advantage of your absence to intrude on your home where your elders live. For that, it is essential to hold back from sharing any information and updates that may jeopardize your loved ones.
4. Ensure Floors are Dry at all Times
Outsiders are not the only threat to seniors; accidents may occur at home, such as trips and falls. Therefore, it is important to ensure your home, per se, meets the high safety standards. Spillages, for example, are very common in every household. But they must be dried quickly. Accidents caused by wet floors can lead to severe problems. So, make sure everyone in the home understands the importance of dry floors at all times.
5. Medication Management
Make sure your medicine is in a neat and clean cabinet and is organized properly so that seniors do not lose track. Organizing the pills in separate compartments for each day prevents overdose or forgetting it at all.
Final Remarks
Ensuring the security of seniors counts in the care you provide to them. While taking care and providing security to seniors is difficult to manage with your busy schedules, it is not impossible. You need to pay attention to some of the important aspects and implement the tips mentioned above to establish a secure environment for seniors.
