Page 18 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, November 14, 2025 Savvy Senior by Jim Miller How to Make a Home Safer and More Accessible as You Age Dear Savvy Senior, What simple tips can you recommend for making a home age friendly? My husband and I are in our late sixties and want to remain living in our home for as long as possible. Homebody Hanna Dear Hanna, Many older adults, like you and your husband, want to stay living in their own home for as long as possible. But being able to do so will depend on how easy it is to maneuver your living space as you get older. There are literally dozens of simple adjustments and modifications you can do to help make your home safer and more accessible for aging-in-place. Here’s a summary of tips from the National Institute on Aging and AARP, which offers a free room-byroom guide with practical suggestions for older adults living independently. ENTRANCE WAY: • Have at least one exterior doorway with step-free access. If that is not possible, consider a ramp. • Add a bench in the foyer to sit on when removing shoes or to set down items while locking or unlocking the door. BATHROOM: • Install a walk-in shower with a bench and nonskid decals or mats to prevent falls. • Add a hand-held nozzle to the shower head to facilitate rinsing off while seated. • Install grab bars on the shower wall and near the toilet • Put in a taller toilet or add a toiler riser. • Consider plugging in a nightlight. BEDROOM: • If stairs are too difficult to manage, create a bedroom on the main level by transforming a den or an office. • Make sure the bed is easy to get in and out of. Purchase bed risers, if needed. • Invest in an adjustable bed for extra comfort. KITCHEN: • Purchase a stove with safety features that alert the resident when a burner is on or have automatic shutoffs. • Relocate major appliances to make them easier to reach. • Add slide-out drawers or trays to existing cabinets for better access. • Install a lever-style, light-touch or sensor faucet, which is easier to use than a faucet with turn-style knobs or handles. FURNITURE & RUGS: • Get rid of furniture and clutter to make rooms easier to move around in. • Use chairs with armrests, which makes sitting and standing easier. • Avoid furniture with sharp corners, which can cause bruises and cuts when bumped up against. • Hide cords out of pathways — but don’t put them under rugs. • Area rugs, if used, should be secured to the floor with a nonslip mat or anti-slip rug tape. or more tips, get a copy of AARP’s “HomeFit Guide” which is a 36-page fully illustrated guide and has more than 100 aging-inplace tips and suggestions that can be made to an existing house or apartment or incorporated into designs for a new residence. It explains how a smartly designed or modified home can meet the varied and changing needs of its older residents. It also features easy-to-do, low-cost and no-cost fixes that lessen the risk of trip hazards and increase the safety of high-use areas like the bathroom, kitchen and stairway. In addition, AARP also offer videos and a HomeFit AR app (available for iPhone and iPad) that can scan a room and suggest improvements to help turn your house into a “lifelong home,” free from safety and mobility risks. Visit AARP.org/HomeFit to order or download a free copy of this guide, or to watch their videos. You don’t need to be an AARP member to access this content. If you’d like more hands-on help, you could also hire an occupational or physical therapist that works with older adults. He or she can come in, evaluate your home and recommend aging-inplace solutions. And if you get a referral from your doctor, Medicare will usually cover a home walk-through. Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior. org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book. 1. On November 14, 1851, “Moby-Dick” was published — dedicated to what Salem native? 2. What male name can be used to refer to a cat and a turkey? 3. In what state would you find an exhibit of World Series rings? 4. Is coconut a nut? 5. On Nov. 15, 1887, what painter with the same name of a state was born? 6. What “Cab” recorded the fox trot “Everybody Eats When They Come to My House? 7. Nov. 16 is National Button Day; what is mother-of-pearl, which is used in buttons? 8. How are “Little Lies,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” and “Cry Me a River” similar? 9. Why does “The Gong,” the world’s largest tubular bell (in a library in Aarhus, Denmark), ring after a button is pressed at a hospital? 10. In what winter sport is a person lying on their back? 11. On Nov. 17, 1947, what group also called SAG) approved using a blacklist? 12. In what year were Qatar’s Leaning Mosque and Minaret completed: 1211, 1811 or 2023? 13. Which of these is a real place in Massachusetts: Dogpatch, Dogville or Dogtown? 14. Nov. 18 is National Apple Cider Day; what president with the same last name as one of the Beatles had the slogan “Log Cabin and Hard Cider”? 15. In 1949 Life magazine reported on the Man from Mars Radio Hat; was the hat sold? 16. How are Amelia, Catalina and Lucia similar? 17. On Nov. 19, 2002, the Senate approved of what new cabinet department? 18. What minister was named after a word in this quote: “…the never-to-be-forgotten increase, of every sort, wherewith God favoured the country about the time of his nativity”? 19. What is a boffin: a bird, craft instrument or scientific expert? 20. On Nov. 20, 1900, Chester Gould was born; he created what comic strip detective with a two-way wrist radio? ANSWERS 1. Nathaniel Hawthorne 2. Tom (A tomcat is a male house cat, and a tom is an adult male turkey.) 3. NY (at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown) 4. No; it is a drupe, which is a fruit that does not split open and has one seed 5. Georgia O’Keeffe 6. Jazz singer/songwriter/band leader Cabell “Cab” Calloway 7. It is a mollusk shell’s hard, iridescent inner layer. 8. They are songs about lies. 9. The city’s parents of newborns may press a button that remotely triggers the bell. 10. Luge sledding 11. Screen Actors Guild 12. 2023 13. Dogtown (a historic woodland in Rockport and Gloucester) 14. William Henry Harrison (Reportedly, the slogan made the candidate seem less aristocratic.) 15. Yes ($7.95) — “the latest and silliest contribution to listeners who feel compelled to hear everything on the air” 16. They are common female names and names of islands. 17. Homeland Security 18. Increase Mather, whose home (now the site of the Paul Revere House) was destroyed by fire in November 1676 19. Scientific expert (a usually British term that is sometimes used to mean nerd) 20. Dick Tracy
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