There are several relatively easy things that you can do in order to make your home less hazardous for seniors like keeping your home well-lit and ensuring no unwanted objects littered on the floor.
Senior citizen safety is a huge concern, especially within the home. Slips as well as falls are the biggest problems within the home for the elderly. But then again, there are several relatively easy things that you can do in order to make your home less hazardous for seniors. Here are a few recommendations for both your home and in a senior living community:
1.) Make it a point that your home is well-lit. The brighter your lights are, then the better. Take a quick tour around your house during nighttime and check if there is enough lighting. It is during nighttime wherein it can be very treacherous for the elderly to walk around the house.
2.) Inspect your house and ensure that there are no unwanted objects littered on the floor. Litter that are scattered on the ground can cause real trouble. It is common for kids and also pets (if you have any) to leave their toys lying on the ground. Make sure to pick all of them up and keep the flooring clutter free.
3.) Be sure also that the rugs or mats placed on the flooring are not loose. Throw rugs, more particularly, can present dangers to any old individual who is suffering from mobility problems; hence, they must be removed at once. If you do not wish to remove them since they add accent to your home, then make it a point to tack them down on the ground, so they remain in place.
4.) Try to install handle bars in the bathroom, especially the areas wherein your elders may need to grab/hold onto. Tubs and showers, in particular, require handle bars. More concerning the bathroom: it would be a good idea to substitute soap bars with liquid soap. Soap bars can be slippery and hard to deal with. Furthermore, they are difficult to pickup when dropped, oftentimes, causing falls.
5.) Consider bringing in gadgets into your house which are deemed elderly- friendly, such as computer keyboards that have large letters, big button and cordless telephone, clocks which audibly announces the time and so on so forth.
6.) Having a carbon monoxide alarm or smoke detector installed in your home is also beneficial. In fact, each home must have such device. Just remember to always check if it is properly working and replace its batteries, in case of a power interruption.
7.) Having an emergency kit is actually more of a necessity; rather than simply a great idea. Be sure to include a flashlight in it.
