One of the biggest threats to the health of seniors is from falling. Falls can lead to a variety of injuries, and these injuries can be exacerbated by preexisting health conditions. In many cases, permanent disabilities may occur. Nobody wants this to happen to someone that they love, and by taking steps to “fall-proof” your home, you can help your mom or dad to live a much higher quality of lifestyle–just by keeping them injury free.
We’ve gone over a lot of the statistics about falls in the past before, but what you might not know is that there are about 2.5 million emergency room visits for falls alone in the senior citizen population. Of these, about 700,000 lead to hospitalization. Some of these individuals leave the hospital relatively healthy, but many leave unable to walk with ease for the rest of their lives. It’s very important to do what you can to help your parent avoid this situation, and prevention is one of the easiest and most effective ways to keep them safe.
If your mom or dad lives with you, you can get started today making your home more senior friendly. Start by removing any sort of trip hazard on the floor. In houses with children, this can take the shape of toys or clothing left out on the floor. In other situations, you might cables stretched across the floor, or electrical wires leading up to an outlet. You might also have area rugs that are not quite fastened down to the ground. Go throughout your home and make sure that there is nothing obvious out like what’s described above that could create a fall. In most cases, this will only take a few minutes and it can save countless hours of pain as a result.
On a similar note, it’s important to keep floors dry. This is particularly a concern in the bathroom and in the kitchen. If you drip water on the ground while washing dishes, or if the floor is a bit wet after you get out of the shower, make sure it is fixed immediately. This might not be a concern to you or younger family members, but to elderly folk that might not be as sure on their feet, it can easily lead to a fall. Whenever possible, keep floors dry. If you can, use mats around the areas where this might be a concern. As long as these don’t become trip hazards themselves, this will help keep floors less slippery.
If you have an in-home caregiver helping with your parent, ask them for advice on keeping your home senior friendly, too. They are likely to have a lot more experience in this area than you, and they can point out little changes that you can make that you might never have even considered. An in-home care service is a valuable resource, and getting their opinion on something like this can go a long way toward increasing safety. Hopefully your home is as safe as possible already, but there is help available.
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