It was at this time that I noted how nice it would be for each of us to lend a helping hand to our elderly family members and/or neighbors who could use a little extra help with many of these tasks. 

Give a little thought to helping out with tasks that would require them to get down on their hands and knees, those that would require the use of a step ladder or those that require extra exertion. 

Indoors

• Washing insides and outside of windows
• Removing storm windows and inserting screens
• Changing the batteries in smoke detectors
• Installing window air conditioners
• Wiping down walls
• Vacuuming walls in the corners where walls meet the ceiling (cobwebs)
• Dusting the tops of tall objects (refridgerators, entertainment centers, etc. cupboards, etc.)
• Wash mirrors
• Moving interior furniture and doing a thorough job vacuuming
• Wiping down the woodwork
• Wiping off chandeliers and replace any burned out bulbs

Outdoors

• Taking them to the local nursery to pick out and purchase summer flowers
• Preparing flowerbeds for spring/summer plantings
• Planting flowers
• Vacuuming out the car
• Bringing seasonal furniture out of storage
• Bringing grills out of storage and cleaning them
• Replacing propane tanks in gas grills
• Trimming overgrown bushes

Lending a hand with the tasks outlined above can go a long way to helping reduce the number of falls in the elderly.

Flickr image by net_efekt

In the fall of 2006, when my Mother moved from her home into assisted living, I was faced with the monumental task of finding a home for 70+ years worth of her belongings. Both of my parents were incredibly sentimental people.  They were well traveled and collected souvenirs on most vacations.  They were frugal so they didn’t believe in throwing much away.  On top of that, they found it very difficult to sort through my grandparents’ belongings when they passed away – -so they stored those possessions in their home rather than finding new homes for them.

In this Sunday’s Detroit Free Press, I learned that I am not alone.  Many, many grown children are faced with this overwhelming task.  In an article entitled, “Sorting Parents’ Belongings is Often a Bittersweet Task” a Detroit Free Press staff writer named Cassandra Spratling writes about the emotional and physical struggles associated with purging the belongings of loved ones.

She encourages adult children to help their parents purge items while they are still well to do so.  She also encourages the seniors to bequeath cherished belongings to loved ones when they are still able to do so.

I really encourage those of you with aging parents, to read Spratling’s article online.

Flickr by Random McRandomhead

In an earlier post (“Fall Prevention” posted by lmcgowan on January 14, 2009), I provided readers with an overview of the many risk factors associated with falls in the elderly and a list of things they can do to prevent such falls.  As we learned in that post, clutter can be a real concern.  According to ReadersDigest.com, clutter “places hoarders and their families, especially the elderly, at high risk for injuring themselves in a fall.”  

The Reader’s Digest online article also stresses that  ”dust, mildew, mold and rodent droppings commonly found in extreme clutter can irritate allergies or lead to headaches or respiratory problems like asthma for hoarders and their families. In some cases, home maintenance suffers, so individuals may endure freezing winters without heat and sweltering summers with no air conditioning.”  There have even been extreme situations in which “hoarding endangers not only the residents but also neighbors and firefighters, who face greater risk of injury and death when battling clutter-fed flames.  It can become a financial threat to communities as well.  Making a hoarder’s home safe and habitable can be staggeringly expensive, and hoards can’t always pick up that tab.”

A recent article on Martha Stewart’s website explains that:

• - “1.4 million Americans suffer from chronic hoarding & clutter.”
• - “People burn 55 minutes a day looking for things.” and
• - “80 percent of what we own we never use.”

She provides her site visitors with some excellent ways to eliminate and handle clutter in their homes.