Reducing Risk in a Hoarded Home

Reducing Risk in a Hoarded Home

Hoarding Disorder is a recognised mental health condition which makes managing risk within the home a delicate balance between prioritising the persons emotional wellbeing while simultaneously needing to take the appropriate steps to create a safer environment.

Below we have detailed some practical steps to help structure the decluttering efforts, improving safety while minimising overwhelm: 

Fire & Electrical Safety

• Try to keep or make at least one clear path through the home that can be walked through easily in case of emergencies.
• Try to keep or move items away from away from heat sources and electrical appliances, like heaters, cookers or radiators, especially flammable objects such as paper, fabrics or aerosol cans.
• Have smoke alarms installed or check existing ones are working, local fire services often provide fire safety checks and do this for free.
• Plug appliances directly into the wall, instead of using extension leads, as much as possible.
• Try to keep power cords and cables out in the open so they don’t get damaged or hot in enclosed spaces.

Wellbeing

• Try and establish a walking path through the key areas of home, even if it’s narrow, to reduce the need of climbing over or around items.
• Try to reduce items kept on the stairs.
• Try and reduce the amount of small or loose items on the floor, to start this can be just pushing them to the side, to limit slips or falls.
• Try to keep important items, such as medication, mobile phone and purses/wallets in a designated spot that is easy to locate.

Cleaning and Hygiene

• If there are signs of pests like mice or insects, focus cleaning efforts in those spots first.
• Try and keep on top of food waste and packaging, prioritise disposing this before anything else.
• When safe to do, open a window now and then to let in fresh air.
• Avoid piling items on top of or work to uncover radiators or air vents so warm/cool air can move through spaces.
• Try to regularly check for any signs of mould or damp.

A Gentle Reminder: Safety is the goal, not perfection, just a few small change can make a massive difference in reducing risks within a hoarded space.

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Hoarding & Risk Reduction Training for Practitioners 

Learn how to assess, manage, and reduce risks when supporting a client living in hoarded home.

Last few spaces available to book HERE