More accidents happen within the home than anywhere else. That’s likely due to the fact that we tend to spend more time at home than anywhere else. When you have an elderly loved one, they may very well be spending far more time at home that you are, and that means it’s important to focus on senior home safety. Whether you’re worried about your loved one because he or she has shown signs that they are struggling with their own care, or because of a past injury, you should know that the most common cause of injuries in the home are from slips and falls. For the elderly, when they begin to lose strength in their legs, it has an impact on their ability to balance, and their ability to regain their balance. As a result, when you may slip but then quickly recover, this can lead to a hard fall and some serious injuries.
There are steps that you can take to help improve the senior home safety in your loved one’s home. The two places that you should focus on first are the kitchen and where more accidents happen than anywhere else in the home … the bathroom.
The reason why these two rooms are the most ‘dangerous’ in the home is because of the general materials that are involved. In both kitchens and bathrooms, you will more often find hard flooring that is impervious to moisture, such as tile. Whether the tile is ceramic, porcelain, marble, vinyl, or some other material, when it gets wet, it can be as slick as ice.
Grab bars are a great idea to add throughout these rooms. More commonly, though, grab bars are installed in showers and tub surrounds. This allows your elderly loved one to have something to help them get in and out of the shower and to hold onto if they begin to slip. When installed properly, grab bars won’t rip free from the wall like towel racks have a tendency to do.
You can also install non slip pads throughout the bathroom on the floor and in the kitchen as well, especially around the sink area where splashing water, or water dripping from drying dishes, can collect.
When you focus on improving senior home safety for your elderly loved one, you’re helping them to remain healthy and secure within their own home, and that can go a long way to prolonging their life and helping them enjoy it to the fullest.
