Today’s post is a guest feature from Michael Leavy, Managing Director of Home Healthcare Adaptations, a family-run company that specialises in adapting homes for the elderly and less abled.
How Seniors Can Feel More Secure At Home
It is frightening just how many older people’s homes are subjected to burglaries and break-ins. Worse still, seniors themselves are targeted by malicious criminals with no respect for human life.
Thankfully, there are measures such as alarm systems, CCTV and doorbell cameras which can improve the security of a person’s home. These could be well worth investigating for elderly relatives.
All too often, we hear about elderly citizens having their houses burgled or, even worse, being attacked in their own homes. It takes an especially cowardly individual to deliberately intrude upon an elderly person’s homestead and threaten to inflict violence on them, but sadly these types of incidents occur with regularity.
Therefore, we should advise elderly relatives living in their own houses to take no chances when it comes to home security. No matter how much a security system or other measures might cost to install, the value to be derived from the peace of mind that it’s there is 100% worthwhile.
If an elderly parent living by themselves knows that their home is as secure as it can be, they will feel far more comfortable and we will be at ease knowing that they feel safe.
Home security has been made easier with the advent of automated systems which enable homeowners to set alarms remotely, switch on lights at timed intervals and monitor the house while away.
A burglar will usually be able to tell when a house is unoccupied, so even if they feel that the opportunity is right to strike, home automation can catch them in the act and allow for corrective action to be taken straight away.
We should also check in on elderly parents or neighbours regularly and advise them on small things that they can do to improve the security of their home. Simple measures like giving a house key to a trusted friend or family member instead of leaving it under a welcome mat, or keeping any valuable items obscured from the viewpoint of anyone looking into the home, will help to make them feel more secure.
The infographic below from Home Healthcare Adaptations offers some sensible pointers on how you can make elderly parents feel more comfortable and secure in their homes.
