Home Appliances for Seniors

Physical limitations of elderly people restrain them from enjoying their life. That’s why it is your job to make their life easier by introducing smart home appliances. People over 60 years old experience more difficulties with their touch, muscle and balance senses. Their eyes are no longer sharp, they become less mobile and get tired easily.

At the same time, seniors are less exposed to new technological advancements than younger people, they also might have no desire to try new things and learn how to use new appliances at home. They are used to old familiar things in their houses and have no idea about new smart household items that could make their lives easier. At the same time, it means that you need to find a way implementing new things in their household.

Requirements and solutions for household appliances

  • People’s senses reduce as they age. Seniors have weaker eye sight, grip and hearing compared to a younger person. Therefore, household items should be louder, have larger text, and light resistance. For example, consider buying a new clock with large numbers and a new loud alarm clock. Replace dim light bulbs with new bright ones.
  • Evaluate if your senior relatives can potentially use appliances that you buy. If you’re buying cooking items, get them lighter cookware that is easier to handle and lift. Heavy pots would be difficult to handle for a 60 year old.
  • A person in a wheelchair would not be able to reach things from a cabinet, that’s why you should put kitchen appliances within the reach.
  • People with arthritis or shaky hands need their kitchenware to be light with soft handles.
  • Smaller size utensils are more suitable for seniors. Buy multi-use items that would be easy to store in a drawer.

Introduce new things slowly. If a person is used to his old heavy teapot and bakerware, he would find it hard adjusting to a new silicon baking dish. You can start with some small items, for example, bring a silicone spatula.

Electronic displays with a lot of functions can confuse elderly people. For example, a microwave with electronic display may seem complicated to use, that’s why you should choose the one with simple buttons. You need to demonstrate them how to use new household items and convince them how easy it is. If you don’t teach them how to cook rice with a new steamer, it can just get stored in a box for a long time.

Don’t buy cheap things that would stop working soon. Your elder relatives would appreciate product quality. Buy them good quality kitchenware that they always wanted to get and never could afford. After all, they used to sacrifice a lot for you, now it is your time to take a good care of them.

Remember, you need to be careful when introducing new things; you may easily offend your family. Before buying anything new, take into consideration their physical and psychological characteristics. Be realistic and think if they would use it or not.

 

Guest post by contributing author Linda Michelle, an avid caretaker and health writer. In this instance she’s representing Repair and Protect.

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