Throughout the years, a home has always been a reflection of the life that lives within it. It has served as the location for the celebration of many life milestones, as well as the location where children grew up and made memories with their loved ones. However, with the loss of physical mobility within the home, many changes have begun to happen to those homes. Ramps have been built for the porches, chrome bars have been bolted into the tile of homes across the nation, and the homes have been filled with medical equipment to assist the residents who live within them. For Home Care Gloucester, contact https://broomfieldcare.com/
For many of these seniors, these changes to their homes are inducing an important, yet unspoken emotion: architectural grief.
Architectural grief is the quiet mourning of the home that was once built and lived in by the senior. For the adult child, adding a shower chair to the bathroom of their mother’s home is a means of ensuring her safety within that space. However, for the elderly mother, such a chair is a symbol of her loss of mobility, her loss of the ability of her body to take care of itself.
So, when assisting seniors in the transition of their own homes, it is important to find a balance between the physical needs of the home and the emotional needs of the seniors.
Involve them in the design: Do not surprise them with the installation of mobility aids for their home. Instead, allow them to have input in the design and construction to give them a sense of control over the space they live in.
