Things to have ready at home before Mom is discharged from the hospital: the 24-hour setup list

You have somewhere between one night and two days. This is the list of things to have ready at home before Mom is discharged from the hospital, in the order you should do them, so that when the car pulls into the driveway the house is already on her side. Print it. Take a pen. Most of it costs nothing but a trip to the hardware store.

Why the house comes first

The National Institute on Aging says more than one in four people age 65 or older fall each year, and that the risk rises with age. The National Council on Aging, citing CDC data, adds two things a daughter setting up a house should hear: that falling once doubles the risk of falling again, and that home hazards including clutter, poor lighting and lack of grab bars can cause falls. None of that is a prediction about your mother. It is the reason the first hour of this list is about the floor and the lights, not about paperwork.

Sources: NIA, Falls and Fractures in Older Adults; NCOA, Get the Facts on Falls Prevention. Opened September 10, 2026.

1. The path

Walk from the front door to the bed, and from the bed to the bathroom, the way she will walk it with a walker. Then:

• Pick up every throw rug on that route and put them in a closet. Do not fold them and leave them by the wall.
• Move cords, footstools, magazine racks, the dog bed. Anything a walker leg could catch.
• Light the route. The NIA's room-by-room guidance says to leave a light on in the bathroom at night, or use a night light that turns on by itself in the dark, and to put night lights and light switches close to the bed. Buy the plug-in kind and put one in the hallway, one in the bathroom and one by the bed.
• If there are stairs between the door and the bed, decide tonight whether the bed moves downstairs for the first week. It is easier to move a bed than to rebuild a plan on Day 2.

Source: NIA, Preventing Falls at Home: Room by Room, opened September 10, 2026.

2. The bed

• A lamp she can reach without sitting up. A switch she can find in the dark.
• The phone beside the bed, charged, with your number as the first contact. A cordless handset if she does not carry a cell phone.
• A glass of water, and a small table for it that is not going to tip.
• The walker parked on the side she gets out on, brakes on, not across the room.
• If a hospital bed or a commode chair is coming, clear the floor space for it now, before the delivery truck is in the driveway.

3. The bathroom

• A chair or a bench in the shower, so nobody stands on a wet floor for the first wash.
• A night light, per the NIA line above.
• A look at where a real grab bar would go, near the toilet and at the tub. A towel bar is not a grab bar. If you cannot install one tonight, write it on the list for the weekend and plan to be in the room until then.
• Whatever she uses in the shower, moved to waist height so nothing needs bending or reaching.

4. The equipment. Will Medicare cover the walker?

Medicare's discharge checklist tells you to ask if she will need medical equipment, like a walker, whether it is covered by Medicare, and who will arrange for its delivery. Ask all three, and then ask a fourth: does it arrive before she does? Medicare's own rules: after the Part B deductible, she pays 20% of the Medicare-approved amount for durable medical equipment, which Medicare defines as equipment that is durable, used for a medical reason, used in the home and expected to last at least three years. Write the supplier's name and phone number on the folder. A walker delivered on Thursday is no use to a woman who came home on Tuesday.

Sources: Medicare, Your Discharge Planning Checklist; Medicare.gov, Durable medical equipment coverage. Opened September 10, 2026.

5. The fridge door

One sheet of paper, taped where everyone will see it. Four things on it, all from the checklist, none invented by you:

• The names and phone numbers of people to call if you have questions or concerns. The checklist says to write these down during the stay; put them here.
• Her drug list. The checklist has a page for it, and tells you to review the list with the staff and ask which items and what dose she should continue after she leaves. Do not write that list from memory. Copy the one the staff reviewed. This is a reminder sheet, not a medical decision; what is on it is the clinician's call.
• The follow-up appointments, with dates and times. The checklist has a page for those too.
• The written discharge instructions. The checklist says to ask for written discharge instructions you can read and understand. Clip them behind the sheet.

Source: Medicare, Your Discharge Planning Checklist, opened September 10, 2026.

6. The errands, done before she is home

The checklist's advice for caregivers is blunt: get prescriptions and run any other errands, like food for special diet instructions, before she is discharged, so you will not have to make extra trips. Tonight, that means the pharmacy, the groceries for three days, and whatever the discharge instructions say about food. Tomorrow that means nothing, because you did it tonight.

7. The phone tree

Three names, in order, for the first week. Who you call if you cannot be there. Who they call if they cannot. Who the neighbor calls if she sees the lights on at 3am. Write it on the fridge sheet, under the numbers from the checklist. Then text all three people a photo of the sheet.

What if she was discharged with a walker but will not use it?

This page cannot tell you why, and will not guess. What it can tell you is who to ask before she leaves. The checklist tells you to ask the staff to show you and your caregiver how to do any tasks that require special skills, then practice those skills yourself. Ask the therapist to show her, with you in the room, and to say out loud what the walker is for in her case. Ask them the honest question: "If she will not use it, what should I do?" Write the answer down. Then plan for the first week as if she will not, which usually means a person on the route with her at the times she walks it, until the habit takes.