Care & connection · PRACTICAL LEARNING
Health & Safety at Home: Supporting an Older Person
Spot the hazards that affect a real day at home, then agree useful changes to routes, lighting, washing and toilet arrangements with the older person.
Who is this for?
Adults providing everyday support to an older person, including relatives, friends, neighbours and paid helpers. Use the ideas to review the person’s home and support arrangements together.
£7.99 · one learner · one-time payment
A dark toilet route. A wet floor. A chair that moves when reached for. Which change would help?
A home can look familiar while an ordinary task has become difficult. Look at the person, route and time of day together, then choose practical improvements that support the activities they still want to enjoy.
Useful things you can try
- Check the actual route and task, including after rain or a power cut.
- Ask whether the person can see, hear, reach and manage the arrangement.
- Agree a useful change, a willing helper and a check on whether it works.
Tools to take away: Routine and route map · See/hear/reach/manage checklist · Improvement and help plan.
What you can put into practice
- Map the actual day and night routes, cooking areas and washing or toilet routines, including what changes with rain, darkness or available help.
- Review food, water, heat and storage while noticing how vision, hearing, familiar layout and unstable supports affect usability.
- Agree manageable improvements with named willing helpers, appropriate skilled advice where needed, and an accepted backup.
- Keep a see/hear/reach/manage checklist, locally verified help and transport plan, private handover and review of whether the change helped.
How the course helps
A familiar home can become harder to manage when movement, vision, hearing or health changes. Look at an ordinary day with the older person: routes, lighting, washing and toilet arrangements, cooking, food and water, and getting to a clinic. Six lessons, outlined below in four themes, explore varied homes and resources, including what changes in rain or darkness. Check whether an arrangement can actually be seen, heard, reached and managed. Choose useful improvements, name willing helpers and verify local help, transport and costs while keeping activities the person values central.
Make it work in your setting
Choose manageable safety improvements that fit the home, daily routines and help available. How to use our examples →
A situation you may recognise
- A familiar route becomes hazardous during a blackout or after rain.
- Choose an agreed low-cost improvement while identifying repairs or assessment that still need support.
Why this can be useful to give
A home can look familiar while an ordinary task has become difficult. Look at the person, route and time of day together, then choose practical improvements that support the activities they still want to enjoy. A useful gift appreciates the effort already being made and offers ideas the learner can adapt with the older person.
What you’ll explore
01 · Walk through a real day
Map actual day and night routines and ask what the person can see, hear, reach and manage. Consider rain, wet tiles, familiar layout and habitual supports.
02 · Follow supplies through to everyday use
Follow groceries through to meals and water checks. Review cooking and fuel hazards, washing and toilet arrangements, privacy and the help needed to complete a routine.
03 · Agree changes and know their limits
Choose manageable changes while recognising needs for assessment, skilled repair or suitable aids. Review sensory usability and skin comfort without prescribing physical care techniques.
04 · Prepare help, handovers and a review
Verify local help, transport and costs; give one usable private handover and practise a backup when the usual arrangement fails.
Tools you can use afterwards
Routine and route map; See/hear/reach/manage checklist; Private washing and toilet plan; Food, water and cooking check; Prioritised improvement plan; Verified help and transport record; Private handover and seven-day review. You can begin by thinking or talking privately. Write accurate instructions and agreements others need to follow; personal notes do not need submitting.
General family-support education, not a professional home assessment, first-aid qualification, clinical training or practical handling certification. Seek appropriate local help for urgent concerns or tasks beyond the helper’s skills.