Can They Still
Live Alone?
A structured family safety assessment for aging parents. Not a diagnosis — an honest starting point for a conversation that needs to happen.
"Is it still safe for Mom to live alone?"
This is one of the most searched questions in elder care — and one of the hardest to answer honestly, especially when you love the person you're assessing.
This tool walks through 9 areas of daily safety. Answer based on what you have actually observed — not what you hope is true. The result is a starting point for your family, not a verdict.
Who should complete this?
The family member with the most frequent, direct contact. If possible, complete it together with other family members and compare answers — differences in perception are often the most important data.
This helps your results be more specific to your situation. No information is saved.
How old is your parent?
Do they currently live completely alone?
Have they had any hospital stays, ER visits, or health scares in the past 12 months?
What prompted you to take this assessment today?
No wrong answer — this just helps frame your results.
Falls are the leading cause of injury death in adults over 65. One fall can change everything — but the pattern before the fall is the warning.
Has your parent fallen in the past 6 months — or had a close call?
How steady is their walking and balance day to day?
Can they get up safely if they do fall — or call for help?
Missed or doubled medications cause thousands of preventable hospitalizations every year. This is often one of the first systems to quietly fail.
Are they taking medications correctly — right dose, right time, consistently?
Do they understand what each medication is for?
Skipped meals, spoiled food, and declining personal hygiene are early signals that daily self-care is becoming too much to manage alone.
Are they eating regular, adequate meals?
Are they managing personal hygiene — bathing, grooming, clean clothes?
Some memory loss is normal aging. The questions to ask: Is it getting worse? Is it affecting safety? Are they aware of it?
How significant is their memory loss day to day?
Have you noticed confusion, poor judgment, or unusual decisions?
Leaving the stove on, giving money to strangers, getting lost on a familiar route.
Have there been any incidents of wandering or getting lost?
Driving is often tied to identity and independence. It's also one of the most difficult and urgent conversations families face.
Are they still driving? If so, how safely?
If they stopped driving, could they meet their daily needs?
Groceries, medical appointments, social connection.
Financial exploitation of seniors is the fastest-growing form of elder abuse. Unpaid bills and unusual spending can also signal cognitive decline before other symptoms appear.
Are bills being paid on time? Is the home being maintained?
Have there been signs of financial vulnerability or exploitation?
Unusual purchases, donations to strangers, lottery scams, giving money to people they've just met.
Living alone is only as safe as the systems that exist for when something goes wrong. These are the questions families often never think to ask — until they need the answers.
Could they call for help in an emergency — and do they know how?
How often does someone check on them — in person or by phone?
Do they have a medical alert device or equivalent safety net?
Kitchen accidents and nighttime wandering are two of the most serious and preventable safety risks for seniors living alone. These deserve their own honest look.
Have there been any stove or kitchen safety incidents?
Leaving burners on, burning food regularly, forgetting something was cooking.
Has your parent wandered, left home at odd hours, or become disoriented outside?
Are they aware of dangers in their environment — traffic, strangers at the door, unsafe situations?
The home environment is often the difference between safe independence and a preventable accident. Small changes — grab bars, better lighting, cleared pathways — extend safe living alone significantly.
Are there clutter, loose rugs, poor lighting, or other fall hazards in the home?
Is the bathroom safe — grab bars, non-slip mat, accessible shower or tub?
The bathroom is the highest-risk room in the home for older adults.
Is the home generally clean, heated/cooled appropriately, and in good repair?
🏠 Free Room-by-Room Tool Available
Our free Home Safety Walkthrough guides you room by room through every common hazard. Use it alongside this assessment. Open it here →