4 Things Seniors Can Do To Avoid Falls At Home

Aging in place has a lot of benefits for seniors, but they still need to be very careful when it comes to avoiding falls. Every year millions of seniors fall in their homes, and some of those falls be very serious. There are some things that seniors can do to lower their risk of falls when they are living at home like:

Rely on Personal Care At Home

Personal care at home is dedicated home care that is performed by caregivers who have experience and training helping seniors with things like bathing, getting dressed, getting in and out of bed, and taking care of hygiene issues. Seniors who have personal care at home have support so that they don’t slip and fall while they are showering. They also have the support they need to get in an out of bed safely. With personal care at home you won’t need to worry about your senior loved one getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and falling. They will have caregivers that can help them get to the bathroom and safely back to bed without falling.

Get Rid Of Area Rugs

Area rugs create a huge tripping hazard for seniors. If the edge of the rug comes loose seniors can catch their foot on that and fall. They can also trip over a wrinkle or rucked up part of the carpet and fall. When seniors make the decision to age in place all of the area rugs in the house should be pulled up. Either leave the floors bare or get wall to wall carpeting installed. Wall to wall carpet provides all the stability seniors need without posing a tripping hazard. Another alternative would be to use carpet tape to securely tape the area rugs down. But getting rid of the rugs and getting wall to wall carpeting instead is the best option.

Downsize

Getting rid of the clutter and extra furniture in the home is a good way to make sure that your senior parent doesn’t trip and fall trying to get around the house. Many seniors that are aging in place have large collections of stuff that they have accrued over the year that can make the house jam-packed full of trip hazards. With your senior parent go through all that old furniture, the old books, and anything else that is cluttering up the house. Get rid of the things that aren’t getting used. Put them in storage if your senior parent isn’t ready to let them go yet. Just get them out of the house so they don’t cause your senior parent to trip and fall.

Embrace One Floor Living

Going up and down the stairs can be very dangerous for seniors. Seniors that want to remain at home as they get older should embrace one floor living and create a bedroom suite on the first floor where they can easily move around. Your senior parent will be less likelyi to fall at home when they are living on one floor.