Is the clutter in your parent's home a safety risk?

You don't have to be a senior to be a hoarder... but it helps. Older people have had more years to collect more stuff and grow attached to it. They tend to have less energy to sort through it. They often place a high value on frugality, making it difficult to discard anything that could be useful in the future. Factor in having downsized to a smaller residence, and you get a perfect storm, clutter-wise. If your parent is living in a seriously cluttered household, you may be perplexed, frustrated and even fearful for your parent's safety. It's tempting to barge in and just throw things away, but there are gentler, better approaches -suggesting making regular donations to the needy, and helping your parent go through one area at a time. For more information on the situation that many adult children face, check out this article by Rosemary McClure of the LA Times and this discussion on yahoo answers.