Home safety is one of the most important considerations when it comes to providing home care for a senior. Seniors are much more susceptible to falls, serious injuries and other devastating consequences related to these injuries than younger people. This means that when you are providing elder care for an aging loved one, it is essential that you make special considerations throughout the home to ensure that aging loved one remains safe at all times. It is important to remember, however, that your aging loved one is not the only one that is essentially at risk of injury or other harm in the home. Senior caregivers are also at risk of injury when providing care for aging adults, it is important that home safety considerations are made to keep these caregivers safe as well.
When considering home safety for senior caregivers, it is important to understand the various risks that are presented to these caregivers on a daily basis. Throughout the course of providing care for aging adults, senior caregivers are put in various situations that could lead to slips, falls or other types of injury.
Some of the most dangerous situations include:
- Helping a senior get out of bed in the morning
- Helping a senior get up or down the stairs
- Helping a senior use the restroom
- Helping a senior bathe
- Keeping an aging loved one safe when preparing meals
- Providing care for an aging adult with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia or other cognitive challenges that can create behavioral issues
By acknowledging these home safety risks for senior caregivers, you can make changes throughout the home that can sure the safety and security of the caregiver, while also keeping in mind the safety and security of the senior.
Some of the home safety considerations you should make to protect a senior caregivers in the home include:
- Encourage all caregivers to wear appropriate clothing, including back supports if they are tremendously hands-on when helping aging loved ones cope with mobility issues
- Install a chair lift to make helping a senior up and down the stairs safer and easier
- Ensure the bathrooms are well equipped with anti-slip grips on the floors and grab bars along the walls to provide seniors with something other than the caregiver to help them avoid falling
- Disconnect the stove or oven if cognitive challenges or mobility issues make it unsafe for this equipment to be functional
- Install alarm systems to prevent seniors from wandering
- Keep all sharp objects or other dangerous implements out of reach of your aging loved one. Remember that many seniors with cognitive challenges adopt hoarding and deceptive behaviors that can lead to knives, lighters and other implements being hidden and used later as a weapon.
