The bedroom is where the first night happens, and most of the setup is about routes. Work through these steps in order. Each one depends on the one before it.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Step 1: Walk the route

Walk the path from the bed to the bathroom and from the bed to the door at the pace your parent will use, with the walker or cane they were given in the hospital. Note the doorway widths, the threshold heights, and anything that sits in the way. The NCOA's home safety checklist is a useful list of what to look for, and the walk is what tells you which items on it apply to your house.

Step 2: Set the bed side and the height

Choose the side of the bed nearest the bathroom route. Ask the therapist which side they practiced from, and match it. If the bed height is adjustable, ask the therapist what height they used so your parent sits and stands at a familiar level.

Step 3: Clear the path

Move laundry baskets, boxes, shoes, and loose cords out of the route. Do this before your parent arrives, not after they are in the chair. If a piece of furniture narrows the path, move it now, while you have two people to lift.

Step 4: Place the phone and the call device

Put the phone on the bed side table or within one arm's reach from the bed. Dial the number the family will answer, then walk to the bathroom door and check that the ringer can be heard from there. If your parent has a call device from the hospital or a clinic, test it the same way. Write the number of the person who answers on a card and tape it to the table.

Step 5: Set the everyday items within one reach

Water, glasses case, tissues, and the remote go within one reach of the bed. Medicine containers stay where the family and the pharmacist agreed they go. This step is about the water and the phone, not the medicine.

Step 6: Test the route at night

Before the first night, turn off the room light and walk the route with the lights you already have on. Check your parent's shoes, the walker position, and the stop points. Mark any spot where the walk would pause or where a light switch is out of reach. Those are the spots to fix before the parent is tired.

Step 7: Leave the written list

Tape a short list to the bedroom door: the bed side, the bathroom route, the phone number of the person answering, and the time of the next scheduled visit. Whoever stays the first night reads it first.

If your parent cannot stand yet, do not test the transfer yourself. Ask the therapist to show you the first transfer before you attempt it at home. The rest of this setup can be done with the parent in the bed.

The Bedroom Is the First Stop: Place the Bed, Clear the Route, and Test the Phone Before Night One