A senior's bedroom should facilitate the comfort of sleeping at night, but also create good conditions for a nap or passive rest during the day. How to arrange a bedroom for a senior? We advise on what to look for when renovating or arranging the interior with the needs of a mature user in mind.

Contents:

  1. Bedroom for a senior - key arrangement rules
  2. Senior bedroom - choice of floor
  3. Senior bedroom - color and wall structure
  4. Bedroom for a senior - how to choose the lighting?
  5. Bedroom for a senior - take care of a good atmosphere
  6. Bedroom for a senior - wardrobe, chest of drawers, i.e. storage
  7. Bedroom for a senior - choose a comfortable and safe bed

The basis of the arrangement of each bedroom is, of course, a comfortable bed, tailored to the individual needs of the user or users. It does not have to have a rehabilitation frame, unless there is a good reason to do so. However, it should be equipped with an appropriate mattress placed at a height that facilitates getting up.

A bedside table with a top positioned so that it is easy to put down a glass of water or a cup of tea will also be useful here. Since it is in the bedroom that clothes are usually stored, it is worth having a chest of drawers that will help you find out about the resources of underwear or T-shirts, as well as a spacious wardrobe - preferably with a storage system that will help you organize your wardrobe effectively, regardless of its specificity. However, before we go into the details of the equipment, let's deal with the basic issues, i.e. the finishing of the room.

Bedroom for a senior - key arrangement rules

When renovating or arranging a bedroom with a senior citizen in mind, it should be assumed that in the coming years the room can be used by a relatively fit and active person, as well as by a person suffering from certain diseases or disabilities. Believing in the most optimistic scenario, it is worth preparing in advance for the pessimistic one - take care of solutions that, if necessary, will also allow the room to be adapted to the so-called special needs.

In addition, taking into account both the living conditions in Poland (including the level of pensions) and the reluctance to undertake renovation efforts increasing with age, it is worth planning all works well and then carrying out with care for highthe quality of the materials used and the diligence of the work. Thanks to this, the risk of extensive renovation in the future (e.g. forging wider door openings for a pram, not for refreshing the walls) in the apartment of a person, e.g. bedridden or simply very old, will decrease.

Senior bedroom - choice of floor

Every person expects a certain cosiness from the bedroom. For this reason, a frequent choice of floor finishing also for a senior bedroom is fluffy carpet. What's more, sometimes it is placed on an additional mat that increases the impression of softness and creates additional thermal and acoustic insulation.

Although this solution is undoubtedly attractive, it may not be practical. It makes it difficult to maintain cleanliness that is so important here - from dust and allergens to dirt that may appear in connection with illness or convalescence. For this reason, it is worth recommending hard floors for the bedroom, preferably made of natural wood or its derivatives (boards, parquet, mosaic, multi-layer boards) - warm to the touch and subject to renovation.

Of course, by the bed or in the middle of the room, a small rug can be found, preferably not fitted with any heavy furniture, so that it can be taken out for shaking or washing - even in a bathtub (smaller sizes) or in a specialized institution (larger or more dirty ). And if, after all, the carpet is rather hard (so that it does not make it difficult to move around on a balcony or on a stroller), with short hair and impregnated fibers.

Senior bedroom - color and wall structure

Walls in a senior bedroom should be finished with paint with increased scrub resistance - latex or even better ceramic - and not ordinary acrylic. Thanks to this, they will not dust or pick up stains, they will allow you to wash the "shadows" that appear above the bed or by the radiator, and will also prove to be more resistant to scratches that may arise in everyday use of the interior.

What about trendy wallpapers and photo wallpapers? Paint is a better choice than them, insofar as possible repainting of the interior in the future will require much less time and work than removing old wallpapers and cutting and sticking new ones. When arranging an apartment for a senior citizen, it is worth considering these categories as well.

Acoustic panels, currently made in beautiful forms, such as: made of multi-colored velvet-like fibers and natural wood. On the one hand, such panels remove noise from the inside, and on the other -improve sound transmission. Thanks to this, they make the bedroom quieter, and at the same time facilitate the understanding of film dialogues or radio broadcasts without the need to turn up the volume - sometimes troublesome for other household members or neighbors.

Bedroom for a senior - how to choose the lighting?

The issue of lighting should be carefully considered at the renovation planning stage, as the arrangement of lamps is closely related to the course of the installation. It is important because in addition to general lighting - lamps or a chandelier under the ceiling - functional lighting will also be useful here: lamps on both sides or around a large mirror, when the bedroom also serves as a dressing room or beauty salon (with a dressing table), as well as one or more two bedside lamps.

Currently, the latter are more and more often used as wall lamps (wall lamps) with a movable arm and a translucent lampshade, which allow you to conveniently adjust the position of the lamp, e.g. to a book you are reading. Some models, in addition to the arm with a lampshade, also have a tiny LED lamp on a flexible wire. Then the main lamp is used to gently illuminate the interior in the evening or at night and to create a mood, and the LED lamp for reading.

Both types of these wall lamps are worth recommending, because they do not take up space on the bedside table, and at the same time eliminate the risk of accidentally knocking over or knocking down the bedside lamp. During the renovation in the senior bedroom, such wall lamps can be connected to the electrical installation hidden in the wall. A less elegant solution, but easy to introduce without major renovation, are wall lamps with a cable led along the wall and a switch mounted on the cable or the lamp body, not in the wall.

A convenient solution for a senior bedroom and not only is an additional general lighting switch located by the bed. Then a person who forgot to turn off the overhead light or simply changed plans and instead of stretching for a quarter of an hour would like to take a nap for an hour, he does not have to get up. This is especially important in the case of people struggling with falling asleep.

During a major renovation, it is worth making an installation in the bedroom similar to the one we know from staircases. An alternative to forging may be an electronic control module, mounted in a box with a light switch next to the door. Then, when entering the room, we will turn on the light as always - by pressing the button, we will turn it off or on again using the remote control lying, for example, on the bedside table.

Bedroom for a senior - take care of a good atmosphere

A bedroom (not only) for a senior citizen should be a bright room, but free from too much sun, ain summer also from the heat. If it is possible, it is worth choosing a room with southern exposure. And when the living conditions do not allow it, you should use appropriate window covers and devices that improve temperature and humidity conditions.

In the case of the southern and even western exhibition, the so-called vertical awnings - this is a type of blinds made of a fine mesh, mounted on the outer side of the glass.

Because they stop solar radiation outside the window, and not indoors (like traditional blinds), they prove to be extremely effective. And when the problem of insolation is not that significant, blackout curtains or ordinary decorative curtains supplemented with roller blinds (standard, day-night or pleated), but made of a fabric with low light transmittance, are enough.

For the sake of unhindered access to the window handle and the efficiency of ventilation, instead of free-hanging blinds, choose those with guides - moving in the light of the glass or close to its edge.

Appropriate air quality in the bedroom will be helped by devices such as air purifiers, air humidifiers, ionizers and air conditioners, or their multifunctional hybrids. The scope of the device's functions should be selected according to the interior conditions and the challenges that arise there. For example, in a rather cool apartment, also in the summer you will not need an air conditioner, while the often noted high concentration of smog in the area may prompt you to buy an air purifier.

It is worth adding that the support for this type of devices can be walls painted with ceramic air-purifying paint, or air-filtering curtains.

Bedroom for a senior - wardrobe, chest of drawers, i.e. storage

In a bedroom for a senior, you need to take care of a storage area, just like in any other - but here the matter is of particular importance. There are two reasons. First of all, a permanent place for underwear and clothing guarantees not only the maintenance of order, but also the certainty that, despite the decades of weakening senses, the user will easily find all the necessary things. And secondly, a well-thought-out storage organization will guarantee convenient access to clothes despite the passage of years and deteriorating efficiency.

The basis of a good organization of clothes storage is a well-known set - a wardrobe and a chest of drawers. Of course, both pieces of furniture can be integrated e.g. module with drawers. The drawers are convenient because they allow you to easily segregate underwear and those types of clothes that are notmust be stored on hangers.

In the homes of young people, T-shirts, T-shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts and sportswear often end up in various types of independent containers. However, they are less convenient than drawers, so in an apartment for a senior citizen, such containers are best used only for storing things that are used seasonally or rarely used.

The drawers of the chest of drawers can be equipped with the so-called organizers, i.e. various types of space divisions, which will facilitate the maintenance of order in any type of collection - from jewelry and watches, through small items of clothing such as scarves or ties, to even piles of carefully folded clothes.

In order to minimize the risk of pinching your fingers, and to make it easier for the elderly senior to use the chest of drawers, it is worth making sure that the drawers are mounted on guides with the so-called a silent closing mechanism, i.e. a mechanism that slows down the movement of the drawer just before it is completely closed and automatically closes it at a slower pace.

The dresser itself - if it is a contemporary piece of furniture, much lighter and less stable than its 20th-century and earlier ancestors - should be attached to the wall so that it does not fall over if it serves as a fulcrum when losing balance.

The interior of the wardrobe for a senior gives a lot of scope for organizing storage. The rail and shelves are just the starting point - especially since the shelves more and more often slide out on the guides like drawers, and the rail is in the form of a pantograph, so you can easily lower it to effortlessly reach for clothes hanging high.

The pantograph makes it easy to use the height of the cabinet, especially the built-in, adapted to the dimensions of the interior. Retractable shelves, drawers or baskets, in turn, allow better management of its depth. At the same time, solutions for small spaces are being developed, such as rods perpendicular to the back of the wardrobe, allowing the insertion of hangers even to shallow furniture.

There are also solutions on the market that allow you to conveniently organize the storage of various types of clothing. The more popular are pull-out trouser hangers (they have the form of "forks" - one pair can hang on each of the many teeth), shoe shelves, partitions to divide the wardrobe space, additional bars suspended under the main ones (in order to next to coats or dresses they could hang short jackets, jackets and jackets on two levels.

Bedroom for a senior - choose a comfortable and safe bed

The central element of the senior bedroom equipment is, of course, the bed. A stereotypical image of equipment would be good for us in this roleknown to everyone from American films - with an electrically controlled frame, in which you can freely adjust the inclination of the mattress in the part under the head, torso, thighs and lower legs.

This is the so-called rehabilitation bed, recommended for people who spend most of their time lying down due to their he alth condition. When there are no direct indications for the purchase (or rental at a price of about PLN 150 / month), a more traditional piece of furniture, but with several important parameters, will be perfect as a bed for a senior citizen.

The key issue is the height of the bed, which primarily affects the ease of getting up. You can find various models on the market, but usually "senior beds" have a bottom height of 32 to 40 cm. In addition, there is a mattress with a thickness of at least 20 cm, so that the complete bed is 52 to 60 cm high, therefore more than, for example, a chair (usually 48 cm). Getting up from such a bed is more about sliding gently to the floor than lifting it up, which is very important with reduced motor activity.

It is worth adding that the height of the bed bottom can be adjusted to some extent also in traditional furniture. How? Either by moving the frame higher, on which the appropriate mattress frame is supported (usually in the form of a set of rungs), or by extending the legs, e.g. by placing stable, wide blocks of wood.

While the purchase of an adjustable frame with a drive should be decided when there is a real need, it is always worth investing in a high-quality mattress. It's good when it has a structure that works with a movable frame and an anti-bedsore filling - it may be useful in the future.

Make sure that its internal structure and a properly made cover favor the ventilation of the mattress and the drainage of moisture. Most importantly, the mattress for a senior should not be too soft - a harder one is he althier for the spine, and also makes it easier to change positions and get up.

And because the hardness of the bed is quite a subjective feeling, there is no other method of choosing a mattress than lying for a few minutes on a few or even a dozen models presented in the store. In order not to make a mistake when buying, it is worth trying to convince the senior to overcome their shame and choose the best proposition for themselves.

What about couples? It's best to choose two separate mattresses - perhaps with clearly different parameters - connected together thanks to covers fastened with a zipper.

You can choose a few useful accessories for the mattress. There was already talk about the cover; its main task is to protect the mattressagainst quick wiping and dirt (covers can be removed and machine washed). There are also waterproof covers to protect the mattress, for example in the event of urinary incontinence. Sleep comfort is, in turn, increased by the so-called top mattresses or top mattresses, i.e. a few centimeters thick mats placed on the actual mattress, which give the user the impression of softness and coziness.

A he althy mattress should be supplemented with an orthopedic pillow, whose task is to keep the head and neck in the most comfortable position for the spine, while maintaining the natural curvature of the cervical lordosis. For the sake of thermal comfort of users, it is worth buying a summer-winter duvet (in other words: four seasons), i.e. composed of two layers of different thickness, fastened with snaps. Such a duvet can be supplemented with woolen or fleece blankets or rugs.

There should be an alarm clock with a clear dial or a large digital display on the bedside table. It's good when it has a built-in radio - this solution will be appreciated by people struggling with falling asleep or insomnia.

First of all, however, there must be a free space on the table to put a book or a computer or put a cup with a drink. In the vicinity of the bedside table, there may be a tray on high legs, intended for eating breakfast or working with a computer in bed.

For the sake of comfort in bed, it is worth insulating it from the cool wall. If the long side of the bed is adjacent to it, a wide plank bolted to the wall may be the solution. And if shorter - a headrest, hard (e.g. wooden) or better upholstered (with a cover that can be removed for washing). Depending on the user's needs, the furniture can also be accompanied by accessories that facilitate getting up or standing up, e.g. a wooden railing or a metal structure made of the so-called with reins or a ladder.

And how to arrange the bed in the room? It depends primarily on the individual preferences of the user (and, of course, the layout of the room). Relatively able-bodied people, however, can be proposed to position it in such a way that it is not visible from the bedroom door. On the other hand, a senior who spends most of the time in bed should be able to see people entering the room well, and at the same time be able to look out the window and look at the TV set.

This is obviously a model situation, not always achievable. Therefore, one must not forget about the subjectivity of each person and the senior himself, ask about whether a specific bed arrangement meets his needs.

Category:

Geriatrics