This article will focus on using stair lifts for home safety so that you don’t need to worry about your elderly parents falling down the stairs in their home. If they have made the decision to remain at home and possibly use an in home caregiver later when they need one, a good place to start right now is by installing a stair lift for their safety.
For Americans who are age 65 and older, the leading cause of accidental injury at home is from falling. Some of the ways that older people commonly fall are by:
- Stumbling on stairs
- Slipping in bathtubs
- Tripping over a garden hose
- Tripping over a dog leash
- Tripping over household cords plugged into appliances
- Falling off stepstools or ladders
It’s important for seniors to be able to access all levels of their home. This is especially true when the bedrooms are located upstairs. Another option would be to renovate the home and make them a bedroom on the main floor, but studies have shown that an elderly person will often try to negotiate the stairs even when they cannot safely do so, simply because they think they can. It’s better to get the stair lift installed before that happens.
Older people (over age 75) are even more vulnerable to sustain injury by falling. Unfortunately, approximately 1 in 300 who fall die from their injuries. Another 30% will sustain debilitating injuries that affect the rest of their life. Since most falls occur within the home, installing stair lifts is one way to lessen the risk of falling and resulting injuries.
Hip fractures are the most common injury of a serious nature that is caused by a fall. The statistics for recovery from hip fractures are daunting, with 24% of people dying within the first year of falling, and another 50 % never returning to the same level of independence or mobility they enjoyed before the fall.
Installing a stair lift for home safety for your elderly loved ones is a relatively easy way to ensure that the risk of falling down stairs is practically eliminated, as long as they are using the stair lift. After it is installed make sure they both know how to use it and are comfortable buckling themselves into the chair and working the controls. Sometimes mom might leave the technical stuff to dad and rely on him to work the stair lift, but she should have equal confidence in using it so that she can also manage it on her own.
