Better Years

Resource center

Guides & Resources

Whether you're planning ahead, responding to a recent event, or helping a family member make a safer home — these guides give you a clear, practical picture of what matters and what doesn't.

Start with the Planning section if you're not sure where to begin, or jump straight to the room or topic most relevant to your situation. Every guide is reviewed by CAPS-certified specialists and written for families — not contractors.

Planning & Getting Started

Start here if you're figuring out where to focus, how to sequence purchases over time, or how to think about a multi-year aging-in-place plan.

Planning

Aging in Place Checklist: The Full Home Guide

If you're reading this, something has probably already happened. A near-fall on the way to the bathroom, a hospital discharge date that arrived faster than expected, a parent who's stopped going down to the basement.

Better Years Editorial Team
Better Years Editorial Team·
Planning

The Buy-Over-Time Aging-in-Place Shopping List

Aging in place is not one project. It is a 10-to-15-year sequence, and the order of purchase matters more than the total spend. Here is the phased shopping list occupational therapists actually recommend, grouped by life stage rather than by room.

Better Years Editorial Team
Better Years Editorial Team·

Home Safety & Fall Prevention

Room-by-room safety checklists, free fixes you can do this weekend, and a structured fall-prevention playbook. Highest-leverage content for most families.

Home Safety

30 Free Aging-in-Place Fixes You Can Do This Weekend

You don't need to remodel a bathroom to make a parent's home safer this weekend. These 30 fixes cost nothing, take a few minutes each, and prevent more falls than most modifications you'd buy.

Better Years Editorial Team
Better Years Editorial Team·
Home Safety

The Complete Aging-in-Place Home Assessment

Most aging-in-place guides hand you a 200-item checklist and a credit card. This is the room-by-room assessment occupational therapists actually use — sorted by what you can fix this weekend, what to invest in this year, and what to bring a pro in for.

Better Years Editorial Team
Better Years Editorial Team·
Home Safety

The Fall Prevention Playbook

One in four adults 65 and older falls each year. Most of those falls are preventable, and most prevention is not about the home — it's about strength, footwear, medications, and the routine in the 24 hours after a near-miss. The playbook a PT actually uses.

Better Years Editorial Team
Better Years Editorial Team·

Bathroom Safety

The bathroom accounts for more falls and injuries than any other room. These guides cover what to install, in what order, and why.

Bathroom

The Bathroom: The Most Dangerous Room — and How to Fix It

More older adults are injured in the bathroom than in any other room. Here's the OT-led plan to fix it — every fix in order, with 2026 prices, and the one mistake that gets families hurt even after they install grab bars.

Better Years Editorial Team
Better Years Editorial Team·

Family Conversations & Caregiving

How to talk to a parent about their home, navigate disagreements respectfully, and bring siblings or a partner into the planning.

Caregiving

How to Talk to a Parent About Their Home Without Starting a Fight

The hardest part of helping a parent stay home safely is almost never the work. It is the conversation. Here is how clinicians who do this for a living actually open it, what to say when a parent says no, and how to get siblings aligned before anyone walks through the front door.

Better Years Editorial Team
Better Years Editorial Team·

Professional Help & Services

When to bring in an occupational therapist, a CAPS-certified remodeler, or a remote assessor — and how to decide what level of help fits.

Looking for product recommendations?

Browse expert-selected products by room, or explore our independent product reviews — rated for quality, safety, and value.