Older people can sometimes feel vulnerable in their homes, especially if they have mobility or hearing/sight issues. Feeling unsafe in your home is an unpleasant experience at any age, and it will eventually have a negative impact on a person’s mental health. Fortunately, there are a few simple steps you can take to make an old person’s home more secure.
#1 Focus on the doors
Doors are, of course, the first line of defense. A few simple steps can make the front door much more secure. Check locks and replace them if they’re getting old. Better still, replace any locks that don’t comply with the latest industry standards – five lever mortice deadlocks Kitemarked BS 3621 are currently the best in class. These are simple enough for anyone to operate but extremely secure and make it virtually impossible for someone to break in by tampering with the lock.
Installing a letter box cage adds an additional layer of protection (and stops intruders from reaching through the door to unlock it from inside). Automatic rim latches add yet another layer, and don’t forget about the peephole. These are easy to install but allow the person inside to see who’s calling before they open the door. That makes a huge difference, especially at night.
#2 Stop groups loitering outside
A group of youths loitering outside an old person’s home can be uniquely threatening. Even if no crime is committed, the noise and the rubbish left behind is problematic. It’s not always safe to confront gangs directly, but there are measures you can take to make them disperse. Alarms like those available from mosquitoloiteringsolutions.com are truly innovative and make not just the home, but the area around it, feel much safer.
These devices use an extremely annoying, high frequency sound to drive away gangs of youths. Since elderly people tend to have less of a hearing range (and don’t hear high frequency sounds at all), the alarm doesn’t affect them. Installation is cheap and easy, and using sound technology is completely safe. For many old people, being able to disperse a crowd quickly and efficiently makes them feel much safer.
#3 Make security visible
The best way to deter intruders is to make a home look threatening. Prevention is always better than the cure, and nowhere is that more true than in the area of home security. Lights around the outside of the house play a role. Porch lights are effective, but even more so are automatic, motion sensing lights that illuminate when someone comes too close to the property. These are a big deterrent and usually more than enough to scare away would be interlopers.
Surveillance cameras are important, too, especially if they’re highly visible. The same applies to burglar alarms. They’re a vital addition to the home, but they’re even more useful when placed in a prominent position. Most criminals are opportunistic in nature. Making a home seem like an unwelcoming proposition is usually enough to stop them in their tracks.
