Lighting for aging in place

More light is needed. The Macular Society puts it plainly: by 60 we need about three times the light we did in our twenties, and a sight loss condition can roughly double that again. The American Optometric Association makes the same general point. A room that was comfortable twenty years ago is not under-lit by accident - the requirement moved.

Glare matters more. More light and less glare pull in opposite directions if you simply fit brighter bulbs in bare fittings. The answer is more sources, closer to where the light is needed, with the bulb itself out of the line of sight.

Reaching things gets harder. Fittings that need a ladder, switches behind furniture and controls that need a phone all become reasons a light does not get used. Everything here is chosen so that it can be operated - and maintained - from standing height.

1. Output you can verify. Buy on published lumens, not on wattage equivalence. If a product will not say how much light it makes, it cannot be planned with.
2. High CRI where color decisions happen. Kitchens, bathrooms, medicine and clothing. CRI 90 or better - best high-CRI LED bulbs.
3. Diffusion rather than bare bulbs. Shades, frosted glass and fittings that hide the source. Raw brightness in the eyeline reads as glare and makes seeing harder, not easier.
4. Controls at the person, not at the wiring. A battery remote beside the chair, a touch lamp, a motion light on a route.
5. Nothing that needs a ladder. Long-life bulbs in high fittings, and keep the changeable things at standing height.
6. Lit routes at night. Bed to bathroom, bottom of the stairs, the path to the door. Low light that comes on by itself, not a hall light that wakes the house.

Philips Ultra Definition 100W A19 - the bulb upgrade. 1,500 lumens at 2700K with CRI 95 and dimming. Nearly doubling the output of an existing fitting is the cheapest single improvement available, and CRI 95 is what makes a kitchen or a bathroom easier to judge things in.
Cons: in a bare or open fitting, 1,500 lm is glare - use it where there is a shade or a diffuser, and check the fitting's wattage rating.

AUVON motion night lights - the night route. Adjustable from 1 to 50 lumens with a motion sensor, in a four-pack - enough for a bedroom door, a hallway, a bathroom and the top of the stairs. Low enough not to wake anyone, bright enough to see the floor.
Cons: no CRI published; they occupy an outlet each; and at the lowest setting they are a marker rather than usable light.

Feit motion sensor A19 - for a garage, utility room or porch socket. 800 lumens at CRI 90+ with five color settings, in a standard bulb that turns an existing fitting into a hands-free one. Useful anywhere you arrive carrying something.
Cons: not dimmable; the sensor is in the bulb, so a deep fitting can blind it; and it is the wrong thing for a room where people sit still.

Lutron Pico remote - the control that needs no wiring. A battery wall control that sticks beside a chair or a bed and raises and lowers the lights without a phone or a trip across the room.
Cons: it works within the Lutron system, so it needs Caseta hardware on the circuit; and it takes a battery.

TORCHSTAR motion sensing solar step lights - outside steps. 320 lumens on motion, solar powered, so the step to the door is lit as someone approaches with no wiring and no switch.
Cons: solar output depends on the season and the weather; no CRI published; and the cool white is a security tone rather than a welcoming one.

Living room. A lamp beside each used chair, with the shade below eye level when seated. Add a torchiere in a corner if the room reads as dim overall.

Kitchen. Light on the counter rather than on the floor - under-cabinet lighting is the single best kitchen change, and it removes the shadow you cast on your own work.

Bathroom. Light on the face from both sides of the mirror rather than above it, high CRI, and a night light that does not require the main light at 3am.

Bedroom. A control within reach of the bed, a warm low level for evenings, and a motion night light aimed at the floor.

Stairs and hallways. Even light with no dark patches, and switches at both ends - the layout case is in stairs and landing lighting.

Outside the door. Something that lights the step and the lock without being switched on first.