Senior Living: Adapting Environments and Addressing Sensory Changes
**Environmental Adaptations for Seniors with Reduced Mobility**
When adapting the living environment for seniors experiencing a decline in mobility, it’s crucial to adhere to these guidelines:
- Ramps should not exceed an 8% incline.
- Doorways should have a minimum width of 90 cm.
- Install handrails in hallways and staircases.
- Ensure ample turning space for wheelchairs in passageways.
- The environment must be adaptable to accommodate increasing levels of difficulty.
The Senior’s Room
The senior’s room should be spacious with a wide door. It should have:
- Sufficient natural light.
- Artificial lighting of varying intensity.
- Easy-to-operate light switches.
- Low windows that are easy to open and close.
- Space for plants.
Toilets
There should be at least one accessible toilet room with:
- Non-slip flooring.
- A wide door.
- Several hangers.
- A ceiling light.
- A mirror.
Interior
The interior should include:
- Security rails.
- Benches for resting.
- Sturdy furniture suitable for supporting individuals when using the bed, wheelchair, or toilet.
- Remove excess furniture and equipment.
- Avoid a hospital-like atmosphere.
- Provide a proper bed suited to the senior’s level of disability.
- A table for personal items and keepsakes.
- At least one comfortable armchair for the senior and chairs for visitors.
- A wardrobe with hangers and drawers at an accessible height.
Sensory Changes During Aging
Vision
- Presbyopia: Difficulty focusing on close objects.
- Altered color perception.
- Hypersensitivity to light.
- Decreased visual acuity.
Hearing
- Neuronal loss in the auditory nerve.
- Increased keratin in ear wax.
- Presbycusis: Age-related hearing loss.
- Alterations in vascular supply.
- Decreased ability to discriminate sounds.
Taste
- Loss in the number of taste buds.
Smell
- Decreased ability to detect odors at low concentrations.
- Loss of olfactory discrimination.
Touch
- Decline in the number of touch receptors.
Aging and the Nervous System
Normal changes in the nervous system during aging include:
- Decrease in the number of neurons.
- Deterioration of dendrites.
- Cognitive changes: Such as impairment in recent memory.
- Slowing of motor skills.
- Increased reaction time.
- Diminished reflexes.
- Increased cautiousness.
- Alterations in balance.
- Senile tremor.
Language Changes
- Difficulty finding the appropriate word.
- Decrease in language fluidity and flexibility.
- Slowing of overall communication speed.
- Changes in voice quality.
- Imprecise articulation.
- Decreased communication effectiveness.
Hearing Disorders
Presbycusis is the normal aging of the auditory system, from the external ear canal to the brain’s cortex. It can vary in intensity and become pathological if it is unusually intense and progresses faster than average. The incidence is 30% in individuals over 65 years old.
Addressing Hearing Problems
- Prevention of etiological factors such as noise, stress, exogenous toxins, metabolic, endocrine, or cardiovascular diseases.
- Placement of a hearing aid.
- Educate the family to include the senior in conversations and to speak naturally.
Vision Disorders
Cataracts are any opacity or decrease in the transparency of the lens or its capsule. Age-related cataracts are the leading cause of reversible blindness in old age and have a very high incidence among seniors. Cataracts develop slowly without symptoms, causing a gradual deterioration of both near and distant vision. Photophobia may also occur.
Glaucoma is an increase in intraocular pressure that leads to degenerative changes in the optic nerve and progressive visual field defects.
Macular Degeneration: The etiology of this disorder, affecting Bruch’s membrane, the pigment epithelium, and photoreceptors, is not well understood. It is the most common cause of central vision loss in seniors.