3 Hacks Under $25 for Aging in Place

Summary

This Carelab episode focuses on simple, low-cost ways (under $25) to make homes safer and support aging in place. Instead of expensive renovations, the speakers highlight practical prevention strategies to reduce fall risk—one of the biggest threats to long-term independence. Key recommendations include improving lighting in dark areas, removing or securing throw rugs, and adding a shower chair for safety during bathing. A bonus tip suggests placing bells on pets to avoid tripping. Overall, small, proactive changes can significantly improve safety and quality of life.

Key Questions Answered

Transcript

Brandy Archie 
Hey y'all, welcome to Care Lab. Welcome to Care Lab. Today, we're gonna be talking about aging in place, but we're gonna be talking about it a little bit differently than we have in the past. Brandy here is going to give the top three hacks for aging in place that are, get this, 25 bucks or less. Now a lot of times we think about aging in place and we think, I'm gonna have to do construction. I'm gonna have to knock down this wall. I'm gonna have to widen this doorway. I'm gonna have to do X, Y, Z, right?

But so often these things can be small changes that are really inexpensive but are super powerful. So Brandy, what's the first one you want to talk about? So I want to talk pre the first one and say that like, if you really want to try to a place, the most important thing is to make a plan. And that's why these top three things are going to be useful because it doesn't solve all the problems if you already have a bunch of problems. It helps prevent the problems in the first place. Right. And that's why they can cost less than $25.

as opposed to the $10,000 it might cost to tear out a tub and put in a walk-in shower. So my very first one leads right into that, and it might cost you zero dollars depending on what you got already, and it's ad-lighting. So most of our troubles with being able to stay living in the place that we live in for as long as we want to is because we end up with a fall that causes this downward spiral of health outcomes. We fall, we break a hip, we're in the hospital, maybe we get a...

hospital acquired disease, we get sicker, we're not moving our bodies. Then we need bigger modifications. Then we need bigger modifications. And then you're trying to recover, but you haven't been moving. I know it sounds overwhelming, but I've seen this happen many times, unfortunately. So many times. Which is why there's such a big focus on fall risks. It's like it's a little yellow band, you go to the hospital. We don't want you to fall. Because lots of bad things can happen after.

And so most of our falls happen when, not when you're like awake and alert and doing your best. It's usually when you're tired, it's dark, something unexpected has happened. Like there's something in your pathway that you did not see. And we trip and have a fall. Most of the time I ask like, well, how'd you fall? I don't actually know. I was up and then I was down, right? And so adding lighting can prevent that in the first place. So your pathway.

Brandy Archie
from the bed to the bathroom at night, doesn't have light, you should add it. You can do it as easy as like turning, leaving the light on in the bathroom at night and like maybe cracking the door so the lights not hitting your eyes and keep you from sleeping. You could be fancier. You could put under bed lighting. That is really cute. It is cute and fancy. And I love it because you don't necessarily, you don't know it's there. Yep. It's really hidden until you need it. And then you get up and it automatically turns on and it's like, Exactly. Yeah.

And it can be different colors. It's on AskSami.com. It's under $25. You can easily put it in yourself or have your grandkids go under the bed and put it around there. But as soon as your feet pass the bed and it sees the motion, the light comes on. And that's just enough light for you to see what's happening on the floor so they don't trip on anything they weren't expecting. But it's also not enough light to be coming to your eyes to wake you up, fully, fully wake you up, that it's hard for you to back to sleep. So adding motion-activated lights.

in dark places is important. And I think about the bathroom most, but it also applies like if you're a person who like falls asleep on the couch every night, watching shows, and then you mosey your way back to the bed, it's dark in the house. Like make sure that that path is lit as well. I also care a lot about people lighting their entrances. So if you come into the garage or you come through your front door, whatever door you usually come in, make sure you have automatic lights happening there too. So you come in at night, not tripping on stuff there. And then we can see what we need to do. Yeah.

I really love that one. Can I wait? I'm going let you get through your other ones. No, it's about lighting. No, it's not. It's not about lighting. It's just another fall. It's another like super cheap fall one. So I'll wait. wait. I'll hold my case in case I have one because you might say it. I might. T's think alike. Great minds think alike. Can I just tell you like after I do love under the bed lighting, I don't have it. But after listening to my I'm I'm going to install some because I get up.

way earlier than anyone else in my house. don't want to wake up my husband when I get up because he's like tired, he's sleeping. Yep. And so I'm like rooting around in the dark trying to find like my socks and you know, my gym shoes or whatever in the morning. How much easier would it be? I have tripped actually over stuffing. Listen, sometimes we don't always follow our own advice, but we should too. So it'd be so much easier if I just had that and it wouldn't wake him up. Yeah.

Brandy Archie 
Done, Underbed lighting happening this weekend. This weekend. Yeah, that's my project folks. That's the project. I think that's super important. And also, we just title these things age in place because we care a lot about making sure older adults are protected and don't end up down these roads. Because frankly, if I fall and have an injury, I'm less likely to break a hip. And whatever happens, I'm more available to like.

come back from it. But also I don't need to want to have to come back from nothing. That's right. Why don't I just prevent it too? Right? So this is not like age-bound, I guess is what I'm trying to say. Yeah, no, absolutely. It's just like make your life easier. Who has a problem with that? I don't know anyone who's too old or too young to make their life easier. Exactly. Yep. OK, so that's my first one is add lighting. My second thing is you should pick up your throw rug.

I know you hate me, hate to hear me say that. You hate it, I know you do. You love your rugs, they're beautiful. You got them from really important places. They mean a lot to you. But if you cannot stomach the thought of picking up your throw rugs, I do have another thing for you. You can take them down. That's good, because no one's picking them up, no matter how many times we say it. No matter how many times we say it, Brandy, no one's picking them Okay, listen, we don't hate your home decor. No. We don't. But rugs...

even though they've been there for 30 years, they are a raised surface on top of some other thing, whether you put it on carpet or hardwood. And if every piece of the rug is not pushed down by furniture, which it cannot be otherwise, there's nowhere for you to get out of, then you have the risk of your toe catching the edge of that and you having a stumble, even though it's been there for a long time. Because you know what is changing? Even if your house hasn't changed, your body is changing.

Right? Your ability for your eyes to accommodate to light is changing over time. This is not your fault. It is not a disease. It's just what it is. Right? Like if you go outside and sunny and come in and it's a little darker, it takes like three times as long for your eyes to change to that. Actually you're 65. And so yes, you know where everything is in your house because you've been living there for a long time. But also there's three parts to your balance. got to get good. You have to have, use your visual input. You take whatever you see affects your balance.

Brandy Archie
how your vestibular system works, like inside your inner ear affects your balance, and then what your feet feel affects your balance. And so if you take away one or two of those, or three of many people have challenges with all three of those, and they might be slight. So it's like the accommodation thing I was talking about with the vision. Maybe you have a little bit of neuropathy in your feet. Maybe you have a little bit of dizziness because of the vestibules. None of it is like keeping you from doing nothing in your life. It doesn't make you bed bound, but it does impact your balance.

And so then add all that on top of like, just, it's it's usually, that's usually what happens with fall. It's like a confluence of things that don't usually happen, but happen today. And then we have this outcome. And so when we're saying, up your rugs, we're saying prevent this from happening in first place. Right? And if you really cannot stomach that, maybe just do a few of them. Okay. If you can't stomach that either, you could take them down. It's still not my favorite, but it is very cheap.

Yeah. And you can put a rug tape, but you'd also find it at assanyme.com, underneath the corners and the edges that are exposed so that at least if you catch your toe, the rug is not flipping up with you and like continuing to be at risk. And you can work with that for a while. Yep. How you feel about that? I feel like you nailed it. I mean, all the things. Yeah. I don't actually, first time ever, I don't have anything to add to that. It was great.

Okay, should we do number three? Number three.

I'm gonna start it. Should we do number three again? But I forgot what my number three is. And I don't want to just stumble around something. I'm trying to think about what will be most impactful. Oh, I know what it is.

Brandy Archie 
Okay, here we go. Okay, so you're ready for number three? Absolutely. Number three is add a shower chair. Okay, tell me about that. Okay, so you might not have any problems with your mobility. However, what do we talk about for falls? It usually happens when there's a confluence of things that don't usually happen, right? And then you're not prepared for it. So what happens when you take a shower? You are naked, you are wet.

You are doing something that is exertive. It does take energy to take a shower. Actually a lot more energy than people realize. It's almost the most energy expensive normal thing we do every day. Every day. Yeah. And you don't take that for granted because you've been doing it for a long time or hopefully you have. But like when your body changes and you have more impact, got COPD like trouble with breathing or if you're using oxygen or any of those things, like it's even more draining. You have a

disease process that is fatiguing like multiple sclerosis or even like Parkinson's like those it's a high intensity activity even though you're not running a marathon. Yep. Okay. So you're wet and naked doing this hard task and then you also need soapy so you're extra slippery and you're slippery. Maybe it's gotten your eyes. You can't see all that well. So now we've taken away your vision. What do we say about your balance? Vision, your vestibular system and how your feet are feeling the information.

So you're taking away some of that. Now maybe you close your eyes and you've tipped your head back so you can wash your hair. So now we're gonna change our head position. All those things impact your balance and we're taking away sensory input. And so it's easy to have a fall in the shower. Or just be unsteady enough that it puts you in a bad spot. Or you're just physically exerted doing the shower. You're just tired. You're just tired. So now you're rushing. We're adding the rushing component. You're like, I'm having a hard time breathing.

My legs are tired, I feel uncomfortable. One of the biggest risks for falls is having a high fear of falling. So if you, in that moment, feel like, ooh, I don't feel steady or stable, I wanna get outta here. Now you've also increased your risk for falls. And so this Because now you're in a panic. Because now you're in a panic. Nothing good ever happens when we're in a rush, when we're panicked. No. No. Yeah, so like that's just layering on problems in a thing that you do literally every day. But if you have a place to sit that's safe,

Brandy Archie 
As soon as you start to feel uncomfortable, you can sit down, right? Or you can start by sitting down so that you don't use as much of that energy as quickly as you would standing up. That's helpful if you're trying to get to your feet and wash them. You're trying to shave your legs. If you're trying to wash your hair and tip your head back without falling over, like adding a shower chair is such a simple addition. And if you don't need to do it in a hurry, you can find one that you like that matches the way your shower looks.

As long as it's stable and height adjustable, it pretty much works. My ultimate goal that you have one with a back and armrest, because that's the most support. like those little teeny stools in there. Not a fan of. No one's butt really fits on, and they're kind of wobbly. Those actually make me really nervous, if I'm being honest. Yeah, but if you want a wooden, tiki wand, because it matches the thing, if it's stable and secure, and the height adjustable is super important, non-negotiable, it needs to be height adjustable.

Having a shower seat can make a big difference. It doesn't have to cost very much money. Now, what if the shower's not big enough for a shower chair though? Because I think that's one of the main objections or problems that I run into. People just don't have a lot of space for that shower chair. There are multiple ways to deal with this. I have only encountered maybe a handful of showers that literally could not hold a shower seat. Because shower chairs come in all different sizes.

And while we might want one that has arms and a back, that does add some more space. There can be sturdy ones that don't have that. And then that can be all the way to the back of the shower and fit in a very small space, right? So I would find the right shower chair for your size. And also you could install a shower chair that flips down. And so that's like often the best solution for a super small shower. Cause maybe you leave it folded up almost all the time. And then as soon as you feel like you need it, you flip it down and you sit and you take your rest. So yeah.

Now that might not be under $25, but it is an option for you. It is an option. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Agreed. And I think the, the really big point here is that there's a solution to almost every problem. Yes. We, we just have to be willing to find it. And there are professionals who, whose job it is to not only find it, but basically already know the solution to their problem. And they are called occupational therapists. That's why Brandy and I are here is because we like, why do we do care lab Brandy?

Brandy Archie 
So we can share this kind of information with you. So you don't have to be like, this is a problem, but I don't know the solution. Just keep living your life and just hope that the fall doesn't happen. Yeah, because we've seen hundreds, if not thousands of patients over the course of our career doing all of these things. we see all of these same things come up over and over again, right? So that's whole purpose. That's why we're here at Care Lab is because we want to share this with more people so it's not just one person at a time, right? But the big takeaway is

There is always a solution and there are professionals that are out there to help you find that, especially if you have a unique or particularly challenging situation. A hundred percent. And that's actually the reason Ask Sammy exists too. Yeah. So that I want you to engage with an occupational therapist at some level, but if you can't find one to come in person or you just have a simple question, like literally ask Sammy, I got a small shower. I think I want a shower chair. What's available. And that's what we've cataloged there for you. So try to make that easier.

Way to go. Good job, team. Good job, team. OK. Oh, can I share my little tip? Yes. Bonus. All right. This is so easy. People trip over their pets. Oh my gosh. Yes. People trip over their pets. And if you're not picking up your rug, you're definitely not getting rid of your You're definitely not getting rid of your pets. And listen, I get, no one's getting rid of their pets. Yeah. If people not getting rid of they're definitely not getting rid of their pets. I'm not asking anyone to get rid of their We're not saying that. To be clear. But.

when you particularly when you have a small pet, sometimes they get underfoot and you can't always see them or you can't always hear them, especially if you have any kind of visual problem. Sure. If you have any kind of hearing impairment, you may not be as aware of that dog or that cat or I don't know that lizard, whatever it is. Put a bell on the collar. that's a good one. It's so, so simple. So often we

We are not aware of our pets being underfoot because we're not looking for them. We can't see them. But if we give an additional layer of like input that they can give us to let us know that they're there, it can make all the difference in the world. Just a bell on your cat's collar, a bell on your dog's collar so that you hear when they're coming and you can either shoo them out of the way or you can stop till they have passed. So easy, so cheap, really effective. That's a really good one.

Brandy Archie 
Thank you. And you know, there's all kinds of different bells. You can have different sounds that you like. Maybe it's your dog that's like your husband's dog. You don't actually like it. You can put a bad bell on it. One that sounds a little more annoying. But then like you like your cat and you have like a little jingle that says, my cat's coming. Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle. know, whatever it is, whatever you like. But yeah, I do think that point is important. That like all these things that we just talked about are all things that you could literally do like right now. And

They prepare you for the future. And then when you get a chance to think about in advance, as opposed to like, I'm coming home from the hospital and now I'm not in weight bearing, like you get to make those decisions. Like shop around for a bell that you like the actual sound of so like it doesn't feel like an alarm blaring that my dog is walking every single time that my dog takes a step, right? Like you can pick a shower chair that matches. You can find grab bars that match your decor. Like you have options when you do it in advance.

just assuming they don't like doing stuff in advance. But when we do these cheap, easy things now, it can prevent us from having to do the expensive, hard, and really not fun things that we might have to do later if we don't think ahead and just do the simple stuff. Exactly. Yeah. Okay. Well, I think that that wraps up this, this episode of Hacks Up. That's right. If you have a favorite hack,

that you've already tried that didn't cost you very much money, you should put it in the comments. Ooh, I would love So we can all share. Yeah, yeah. Because there's tons. And if you made it to the end of this episode, please make sure that you like, subscribe, share, follow. Please, please leave a comment, a review. That is the best way for us to continue to grow, to reach more people with this helpful information. Until next time, we'll see you right back here on CareLab. Bye, everybody. Bye.

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