How do you plan a senior-friendly kitchen? Our guide outlines what is important and how to make the kitchen easier for senior citizens to use.
A senior-friendly kitchen can give you back a bit of independence in old age with limited mobility. We’ll show you how to plan a senior-friendly kitchen.
It is particularly important for seniors in old age to maintain the quality of life in various areas. Last but not least, this includes working in your own kitchen. But suddenly many everyday things are no longer so easy. Removing pots from the cupboard, emptying the dishwasher or peeling potatoes becomes an act of strength with increasing age.
Back pain or the loss of strength in the legs lead to reduced mobility. However, a lot can be made easier again if the kitchen is designed for senior citizens. In the following you will find out what is important when it comes to furnishing or redesigning a kitchen suitable for senior citizens. This is important whether it is their own home or you are moving your parents into a granny flat.
What is important for a kitchen suitable for senior citizens?
If a kitchen is suitable for senior citizens, it is also partially accessible for the disabled and therefore geared towards people who have to live with restricted mobility. Many changes in the kitchen, which make life easier for people with disabilities, can also make life easier for seniors.
Last but not least, there is consideration of work tools that are in an elevated position and thus save the elderly from having to bend over. Standing for hours at the sink or at the stove is no longer possible in old age, so these work surfaces should also be easily accessible while sitting when you plan a senior-friendly kitchen. It is particularly important for the necessary leg free time under the work surface.
Many wall units are difficult to reach. If a ladder is used, this can lead to an accident risk. Here, electronically operated wall units offer a solution. These can be shut down at the push of a button, making it much easier to do business safely in the kitchen. The kitchen is akso a good location to install an alert system for seniors.
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This is how you plan the kitchen for senior citizens
A lot of planning is necessary to make a kitchen suitable for senior citizens . It is advisable to first consider which individual work steps are necessary in everyday kitchen life and should be made easier by redesigning the kitchen.
The most important work in the kitchen at a glance:
- Food
- clear out and put away
- clean and wash
- cook or fry
- Dishes
- clear out and put away
- wash off
- Dispose of waste
In a kitchen that is suitable for senior citizens, it is primarily a matter of short commutes. Every step is a relief. If the senior-friendly kitchen is to be completely redesigned, you can use this scheme to plan a kitchen with the shortest possible connection routes. If the food is removed from the refrigerator, it is practical to be able to put it on the worktop immediately. Once the food is prepared, it goes to the stove. This should connect to the worktop. The dishwasher, the sink and the possibility of waste disposal complete the kitchenette.
What should you pay special attention to?
When planning the necessary installations and conversions, special attention must be paid to the fact that seniors are restricted in their mobility and it is therefore becoming increasingly difficult for them to do business in a standard kitchen. Bending down to reach the oven, refrigerator or dishwasher is only possible with great effort. The back is relieved when these devices are arranged higher and the senior has them practically in front of their eyes and can open them comfortably.
Closets also become pitfalls. Getting a pot from a base cabinet is often only possible if you kneel on the floor. If this is no longer possible for senior citizens, pull-out compartments should be installed. The same applies to the wall cabinets, where you can use retractable attachments or inserts that can be folded down.
Tip: Do not hang wall cabinets suitable for senior citizens higher than at a distance of 1.40 meters to the lower edge.
❖ Cupboards should give way to drawers
The good old kitchen cupboard is increasingly becoming a hurdle for seniors. They cannot reach the cupboard doors above their heads and can no longer get into the cupboards on the floor. Therefore, the kitchen planners have to give more thought and develop kitchens that completely have less of the cupboard doors and instead allow then to put more items in drawers.
Tip: Drawers relieve the back and let kitchen utensils be found much faster and more conveniently.
❖ Kitchen appliance positioning
Consider how difficult it will be for seniors to have to bend down. The oven, the dishwasher, the refrigerator – all these devices are in daily use. Therefore, it is probably the most important task in a senior-friendly kitchen to promise relief in this regard.
Bringing the kitchen appliances to eye level is associated with some costs and some effort, if the kitchen already exists – but promises to make life easier for the seniors and can continue to do business in their own kitchen without ultimately relying on outside help to be.
❖ The senior-friendly work surface
Many seniors cook fresh every day. This means that the preparation and preparation of the dishes takes a lot of time. However, standing for hours is usually no longer possible. Therefore, the work surface must be adapted to these conditions and should also be easy to reach while sitting.
Tip: Roll containers fill the storage space under the work surface sensibly.
If the work surface cannot be redesigned accordingly, help yourself with a chair and a small table. This also fits in small kitchens and can be selected so that it can be folded up when not in use.
❖ Exclude sources of accidents
Most accidents happen in the home. The danger of this increases, of course, when the physical and mental functions weaken and you are less mobile and less secure on your feet. So that your own kitchen does not become a source of accidents, some measures should be taken.
So you should pay attention to a safe and non-slip floor, so that there are no falls in the kitchen. Handle strips along the worktop or in front of the hob are ideal so that the elderly can catch themselves if they stumble.
When it comes to kitchen appliances, pay attention to models with controls suitable for senior citizens. To prevent uncontrolled operation of hotplates or ovens , these devices should be equipped with an automatic switch-off. Clear displays and generous controls make it easier for seniors to work with the technical equipment.
Tip: Decide on an induction hob. This prevents seniors from getting burns and overheating of the hob can also be prevented.
Adequate lighting in the kitchen area is provided by LED lamps, which use little energy and do not generate a lot of heat.
This is what a senior-friendly kitchen looks like:
- Place the sink, stove and refrigerator in an elevated position
- Height adjustable tables and worktops
- Secure electrical appliances
- Induction cooker
- Attach handles to the worktops
- Drawers instead of cupboards
- Worktop accessible in a sitting position
- Non-slip floor
- adequate lighting
