How do you make a home safer for seniors?

Elderly home safety in the bathroom

To make a home safer for elderly family members, remove trip hazards, improve grip underfoot and lighting, and add something to hold on to, starting in the bathroom. HealthHub says most falls among older people happen at home, and that the majority occur due to clutter or hazards such as slippery floors or loose cords. For the bathroom, HealthHub's tips are to install grab bars and non-skid tape in the shower, and to remove loose floor rugs or use a non-slip mat.

If you live in an HDB flat, the Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE) programme from HDB can install more. Its items for the toilet and bathroom include:

• Grab bars: a first set of 8 or 10 pieces for a combined or separate toilet and bathroom, and a second set of 6 pieces for flats with at least 2 toilets or bathrooms
• Slip-resistant treatment for the existing toilet or bathroom flooring
• Lowering of the toilet or bathroom entrance kerb, where the kerb is higher than 20mm
• A wall-mounted foldable shower seat
• A bidet spray

Lighting and trip hazards

HealthHub lists several environmental causes of falls: uneven, loose and slippery surfaces, unsecured carpets and rugs, loose cords and wires, inadequate lighting, and poor step and stairway design. Its advice for a safer home includes:

• Make sure entrances, stairways and rooms are well lit.
• Coil or tape cords and wires next to the wall.
• Keep floors free of clutter, with clear paths for walking.
• Fix loose or uneven steps.
• Remove loose floor rugs, or use a non-slip mat.

For fall prevention at home, walk the routes your parent uses every day, such as bedroom to toilet and front door to living room, and look for each of these hazards along the way.

In an HDB flat with small lighting switches, the EASE list includes a set of 12 rocker switches, and HDB assesses whether rewiring is needed. If a room inside the flat needs an extra light, that is electrical work: EMA says electrical work in an HDB flat needs a Licensed Electrician, the class of LEW approved for loads of up to 45kVA. You can compare light installation by electricians in the directory.

HDB EASE support for seniors

Under the EASE programme, HDB subsidises items installed in the flat to improve mobility and safety, as its EASE page explains. EASE is offered as part of the Home Improvement Programme (HIP). If your block does not qualify for HIP, or you want the items earlier, you may apply under EASE (Direct Application).

Direct Application is open to Singapore Citizen households in sold flats and registered tenants in rental flats, if a family member is 65 or older, or 60 to 64 and needs help with at least 1 Activity of Daily Living (washing or bathing, dressing, feeding, toileting, mobility or transferring). HDB says all items come with a 1-year warranty and are installed only where technically feasible. Beyond the bathroom, its list also covers grab bars at the main entrance, a handrail at a main entrance with steps, ramps and widening of the toilet or bathroom entrance.

For costs, the application steps and caring for the items, read the full HDB EASE programme guide.

Furniture, fixings and health checks

Falls are not only about floors. HealthHub also counts chairs and beds that are too high or too low, wrong footwear and wrong eyewear among the causes of falls, and advises having your vision checked regularly.

If clearing the floors means putting up new storage, see the guides on shelf installation and how to anchor furniture to the wall.

FROM THE HOMEZYPRO DIRECTORY

Published drilling and mounting rates

For the most common unit (per job), the lowest published drilling and mounting rates from 3 companies run from S$40 to S$120 per job (middle rate S$60), to mount one item. The middle figure is a real published rate, not an average. Each figure is one company's own advertised rate with its conditions, not a quote.

See 4 published drilling and mounting rates and sources

Lowest matching advertised rate per company, in SGD as published. "From" marks a starting price and ranges are shown in full. Check the source for minimums, GST and inclusions.

Company	Service as listed	Rate	Source
Wefix4U	Drilling	From S$10 per hole	wefix4u.sg
FixMove	TV, mirror, shelf, picture or cabinet mounting	From S$40 per job	fixmove.sg
Repairhome.sg	Installation (TV brackets, mirrors, shelves, lights, curtain hardware)	From S$60 per job	repairhome.sg
Handy King	TV wall mounting	From S$120 per job	handyking.sg

In the directory, 4 companies publish a drilling or mounting line. Of these, 3 price it per job, to mount one item: their lowest published rates run from S$40 to S$120 per job, as printed, and the middle company's published rate is S$60 per job. The fourth prices drilling from S$10 per hole. None of these lines names grab bars or handrails, so do not read any of them as a grab bar price. See handyman rates for other jobs.

The full checklist

Use this list as you walk through your parent's home. Every item comes from the advice in the sections above.

• Loose rugs removed, or a non-slip mat used
• Cords and wires coiled or taped next to the wall
• Floors free of clutter, with clear walking paths
• Loose or uneven steps fixed
• Entrances, stairways and rooms well lit
• Grab bars and non-skid tape in the shower
• Chair and bed heights checked, not too high or too low
• Footwear checked
• Glasses checked for the right prescription
• Vision check booked
• Medicines reviewed by a doctor or pharmacist
• EASE application considered, if you live in an HDB flat

The HDB EASE list also includes a Home Fire Alarm Device in the living room; see the home fire alarm guide. For drilling or fixing work you would rather not do yourself, compare handymen and ask each company to confirm in writing what its job covers.

Questions