Many senior citizens prefer to remain in their homes as far into their golden years as possible. Living at home allows them to maintain a sense of independence that they wouldn’t be able to achieve at an assisted living facility or nursing home. There are often changes that need to be made in order for a residence to be safe for a senior to live in. One of the top things to do is to clear out the clutter. Here’s why.
Mental Improvements
As a person ages, there are a number of mental concerns that they will often face. For example, it’s easy to become confused or disoriented. This is true even in a person’s own home. In order to keep things simple to understand, decluttering the home can be beneficial. There may be a lifetime of items that are simply making it confusing to find what is needed at a certain point in time.
Safety Concerns
A lot of clutter in a home can be a physical threat to a senior who is living there. Tripping over a random item can cause a pretty serious fall. There are many common causes of falling, but they happen quite often in the home. It’s a good idea to get rid of the clutter that is sitting around, but getting rid of some extra furniture pieces can help open the home up quite a bit. This allows for safer passage through rooms.
Getting Ready to Move
There will likely come a time when a senior citizen will need to move out of their home for extra assistance and care. When this time comes, it can be a burden to the senior and their family members when there is a lot of clutter lying around. Taking the time to go through items will save a lot of effort later on. When it comes time to move, it won’t take months to sort through everything. It’s nice when a senior can decide on their own what will be saved, which items will be passed on to someone else in the family, and what should be donated.
Decluttering a home can take a bit of time. This time frame really depends on the amount of clutter that is present. It’s a good idea for a senior to have help with this process. Going through items one by one can be enjoyable for a senior as they relive some of the memorable times in their life.
