5 Tips for Safely Lighting a Senior’s Home
Lighting is one of the most important home safety features to keep in mind for older adults planning to age in place.
The Importance of Proper Lighting for the Elderly
Studies show that older adults are involved in more than 2 million at-home accidents each year, with 70% of those accidents occurring at home. Proper lighting is one of the most important keys to a safe living environment, as an underlit home can increase the likelihood of suffering a major fall.
Five Ideas for Senior-Friendly Lighting
As a family caregiver, one important step you can take to make your elderly loved one’s home safer is to upgrade the lighting. From the kitchen to the bathroom, bright, clear, and easy-to-access lighting is essential in a senior’s living space.
1.) Add “Cooler” Lights Around the Home
Cooler-colored halogen and fluorescent bulbs may help supplement the senior’s natural vision, and consider installing dimmer switches so you can adjust the light level throughout the day.
2.) Use Task Lighting
If your loved one is a voracious reader, make sure they have a reading light strategically placed in their room. Adding task lighting to the kitchen can make it easier and safer for seniors to prepare their favorite meals.
3.) Make Sure Light Controls Are Accessible and Easy to Use
Consider upgrades and senior-friendly features that can make adjusting the lights easier, such as remote control lighting.
How much more light does an older person need?
Light levels in the range of 250 to 300 foot candles (2,500 or 3,000 lux) are required to maintain circadian rhythm synchronization, which is about 10 times more than the light requirements for vision (Noell-Waggoner, 2002, p 344).
Do older people need more light to see well?
Less light is able to enter the eye as muscles weaken and the pupil shrinks, which is one reason why the elderly require higher light levels. Another reason is that the number of rods in the eye can decrease as we age, making it more difficult to see in low light.
Why is lighting important to older adults?
Lighting is an important environmental attribute that promotes visual, physical, and mental health; older people require more light due to normal visual age changes, but improving indoor lighting levels receives little attention.
What do older people need in their homes?
Products and Equipment for the Elderly
- Bathroom grab bars near the toilet and shower.
- Hand-held shower head.
- Bathtub/shower transfer bench.
- Stepless/walk-in bathtub or shower.
Are old people sensitive to light?
There are specific age-related vision diseases, such as presbyopia (the loss of the ability to see close objects), floaters, dry eyes, tearing eyes, cataracts, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and others. Light sensitivity can also increase as eyes age.
Does astigmatism change with age?
Because of changes in corneal curvature, the prevalence of astigmatism rises with age, and the axis shifts from a predominance of with-the-rule astigmatism to a predominance of against-the-rule astigmatism.
Why do older people have trouble seeing in the dark?
As we age, the cornea and lens in our eyes become less clear, causing light to scatter inside the eye, increasing glare and reducing contrast sensitivity u2014 the ability to distinguish subtle differences in brightness u2014 making it more difficult to see objects on the road at night.
Does night vision get worse with age?
Cells in your eyes grow and die as you age, causing debris in your eyes, which leads to cataracts. Cataracts don’t hurt, but they do get worse over time, clouding your lens. The first symptom is often worse night vision.
Why can I suddenly see better without my glasses?
See your optometrist or ophthalmologist if you’ve noticed that you’re reading better without your glasses lately; if your near vision is suddenly better than ever, your distance vision is likely to be worse; sometimes, when second sight occurs, what’s really going on is that you’re becoming slightly nearsighted.
How does light affect aging?
UV radiation is a mutagen that can promote aging and shorten life expectancy. Visible light also has an impact on human health, including retina function, sleep, cancer, and psychiatric disorders.
At what age do you increasingly need brighter light to see properly?
How do these changes affect your vision? You may notice that your eyes: Require more light to see clearly over timeu2014usually by the age of 65.
At what age is elderly?
In most industrialized Western countries, someone is considered a senior at the age of 65 or so, but keep in mind that this figure is based primarily on retirement age and the age at which social benefits begin to accrue; many people would not consider someone a senior until they are at least 70 years old.
What age is considered old for a woman?
The old age threshold for women is around 73, and for men it is around 70.
What do seniors want most?
When asked which factor is most important to maintain a high quality of life in their senior years, 4 out of 10 seniors chose staying connected with friends and family, ahead of having financial means (30 percent).