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Here we discuss special home safety concerns for the elderly and for disabled people, offering suggestions for safety inspections and for obtaining financial aid to perform necessary home safety or home accessibility improvements.

Readers of this article should also see the full article, Home Safety Hazards, and also see more special-topic safety inspection articles at this website such as STAIRS, RAILINGS, LANDINGS, RAMPS - INSPECTIONS, CODES and SAFETY FOR ELECTRICAL INSPECTORS and Septic Inspection Safety. Our page top photo shows a too-fat hand railing that cannot be safely grasped.

Home Safety Checklist & Financial Aid for the Elderly and for Disabled Veterans

The author's mother, at age 91, fell down carpeted stairs in her home in Boca Raton, Florida. Injuries from falls can be very serious, even fatal to more fragile elderly people.

At 2AM mom decided to carry an armload of clothes downstairs to her washing machine. Wearing open-heeled slippers with smooth soles, carrying an armload of laundry with both arms full, and stepping down stairs that were poorly designed with narrow treads and thick soft nosed carpeting, she lost a slipper and fell.

Mom's injuries included three broken ribs, an elbow so severely broken that an elbow replacement was required, and multiple lacerations to her head. After lying unconscious for some undetermined time Mom crawled to a telephone and asked a neighbor for help. Major surgery, rehabilitation, round-the-clock nursing care, and a long, slow recovery were in store. (Photo above-left, modified for privacy, shows an elderly homeowner with her home health care aide after a stair fall injury).

The stairs and our long standing debate of their dangerous nature had been a recurrent debate between an independent-minded mother and son, to no avail. Obviously, being aware of their dangerous nature was not enough.

The author's neighbor, at age 85, made a wrong turn in an upstairs hallway after using the bathroom late at night. Dr. S. fell down stairs to a landing, narrowly-missing a fatal fall through a window located at the landing, and while he recovered, his injuries were so severe, both mental and physical, that he had difficulty walking and rarely left his home again until his death years later.

Falls like these are so severe that they can materially affect the length and quality of life for the elderly. Yet the hazards involved could be easily spotted by an experienced home inspector or home safety inspector.

Special Home Safety Inspections for the Elderly or Disabled

In a home safety article "Making Home a Safer Place, Affordably" by Lesley Alderman and appearing in the New York Times (July 2009), Alderman provided some excellent home safety inspection and home safety improvement financing suggestions that we summarize here:

• Occupational therapist: hire an occupational therapist (an O.T.) to inspect and suggest modifications to the home to meet the specific needs of its elderly or disabled occupants. O.T.'s will consider safety and ease of movement concerns that are not addressed by a home inspector, such as height of chairs and sinks, and grasp-ability of handles.
• AARP, the American Association of Retired People, assisted by the NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) provides a home safety checklist
• The Home Safety Council (MySafeHome.net) provides a home safety checklist via visual tour
• Professional home inspectors can provide an economical survey that addresses home safety and more broadly, a home inspector can identify and help prioritize repairs necessary to preserve the building as well as to keep it functioning safely.
  These building professionals will consider indirect safety hazards and latent safety hazards affecting all building occupants and that are usually unfamiliar to other safety consultants who may not be building experts. Examples include safe venting of heating appliances (carbon monoxide hazards), unsafe electrical wiring (aluminum wiring, FPE and some other electrical panel brands such as Zinsco, improper electrical wiring and shock hazards), unsanitary or unsafe septic systems, unsanitary drinking water, as well as improperly designed steps, stairs, and rails (stair safety checklist).

Special Safety Improvement Financial Aid & Insurance Protection for the Elderly or Disabled

• Long-term care insurance: the author's mom paid premiums for years for long term care insurance to help assure that she would be able to remain in her home should she become disabled. But guarding her privacy and independence with fierce determination, Mom had made it extremely difficult for her children, coming to her aid after her fall and injury, to determine if she had kept such a policy in force much less what kinds of care it covered.
• Durable power of attorney (DPOA): sometimes the elderly, particularly those living distant from close family, are victimized by local contractors who combine providing over-priced services (a Boca Raton electrician charged our Mom thousands of dollars for changing a few light bulbs). Be sure that your elderly parent or disabled family member has designated a responsible family member or a reliable local attorney, one who has the client's best interest at heart, and one who will, if it is not a family member, will readily communicate with family members when their parent or other person requires assistance. Our mom's attorney kept his role as holder of her DPOA a secret from family members, making care arrangements for our mother particularly difficult when she was injured.
• Sources of money: financial aid for home safety improvements:
  • Department of the aging: most communities have a local department of aging or elderly who can offer advice and possibly financial assistance for the elderly who need home safety improvements. The department may function at a city, county, or state level. Check with your local building department or health department if you are having trouble finding an agency in your area, or try the federal government's elder care locator at www.eldercare.gov or call 1-800-677-1116.
  • Home equity loans, or a reverse mortgage may be suitable for some elderly homeowners who need funds to make their home more safe or accessible. Check with the bank holding the present home mortgage as well as with other local banks.
  • Home repair charitable associations such as Christmas in April USA (community specific, for example this Maryland association) or RebuildingTogether (also sponsors a Christmas in April program) offer home repair services, sometimes at no cost to the homeowner.
  • Veterans Administration Benefits: financial aid for disabled veterans, can provide special equipment needed in the home for vets who qualify (1-877-222-8387). The VA also has a home loans program as well as grants for home improvements and structural alterations needed by veterans.

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• Dan Haydon, is a professional home inspector in Phoenix AZ. Mr. Haydon can be reached at nahidan@msn.com9 July 2009
• "Making Home a Safer Place, Affordably," Lesley Alderman, New York Times, 18 July 2009 - B-1/B-6

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