Elder Care Tips: Choosing the Right Vehicle for Your Care Efforts

Elder Care in Newton, MA

There are many things that you will need throughout your elder care journey with your aging loved ones to ensure that you are fulfilling your responsibilities properly, keeping yourself on track, and giving your senior parents the care, support, and assistance that they need and deserve. Of these, one of the most important is your vehicle. You want to know that the vehicle that you have is safe, accessible, and appropriate for you to use with your seniors. This is especially important if they no longer drive and require assistance with all activities including running errands and going to their appointments.

Choosing the right vehicle for your care efforts is about evaluating your seniors’ needs now as well as what you predict they might need in the future and choosing a vehicle that fulfills these needs successfully.

While the features that will be right for the vehicle you choose for your aging loved ones will vary depending on their specific needs, some things that you may want to consider looking for the next time you choose a vehicle to enhance your elder care efforts with your seniors include:

• Elevated seats. A little compact sedan may be efficient, but it may be difficult for seniors with mobility issues or balance problems to get in and out of a vehicle with such low seats. Look for a vehicle with seats that are high enough to minimize bending but that also do not require climbing, which can create a balance problem.
• Wide doors. Many seniors do not have the mobility and dexterity to bend and twist in the way that may be required to get into narrow doors. Consider a vehicle with doors that open wide or that have sliding doors to allow for easy entrance.
• Climate control. It is very common for elderly adults to be more vulnerable to the temperature outside, which could make them uncomfortable when the vehicle is set to the climate that keeps you and the rest of the family comfortable. Vehicles with zoned climate control allow you to set the temperature for each seat. That way you can ensure your parents stay comfortable no matter what the temperature. For added comfort, look for heated and cooled seats so that you can quickly change their environment.
• Keyless entry. If your parents require hands-on mobility assistance it can be difficult to unlock the vehicle while also keeping them on their feet. Keyless entry allows you to just press a button on your key fob so that it will unlock the doors without you having to negotiate getting the key into the door.
• Adequate cargo space. Especially if your seniors have any form of mobility or balance issue, or medical concerns that require equipment, you need to make sure that your vehicle has plenty of space to not only store these items, but to make them quickly and easily accessible. You do not want to have to take 10 minutes to wrestle their wheelchair out of the back of the vehicle everywhere you go.

Source

http://www.aarp.org/auto/info-2015/cars-for-caregivers.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/15/booming/why-do-i-feel-colder-as-i-get-older.html