'Fix the house, not your loved ones'

A family gathering, such as Christmas, is an ideal time for families to discuss and plan how to tackle some of the problems thrown up by the simple fact of ageing.

Carolyn Sluite, writing for JournalStandard.com, talks about the US tradition of Thanksgiving as a way to facilitate a discussion between younger and senior family members, but it could easily stand for Christmas.

Ms Sluite suggests that, often, such holiday seasons make people realise how much another family member has changed. They may struggle to complete tasks that they previously found easy, for example.

She urges people not to stay silent but to bring up the situation and work together to deal with it.

"Fix the house, not your loved ones," she writes. If older people are struggling to use the stairs, for example, consider a stair glide or ramp to make movement a whole lot simpler.

In the bathroom, a range of mobility aids are available to make life easier. A simple bath or shower chair, for example, can make bathing a much more pleasant and independent experience.

Other aids, such as a recliner chair, can also be useful. The lifting mechanism means users find it much easier to sit down and stand up.

"Don't wait for an emergency or crisis to happen before talking to ageing parents," Ms Sluite said.