SENIOR SAFETY

We are an age­ing soci­ety, and we con­tin­ue to live longer. Con­se­quent­ly, its nev­er been more crit­i­cal to keep peo­ple in their homes for as long as pos­si­ble and as healthy as pos­si­ble. Some of the keys to sup­port­ing peo­ple liv­ing inde­pen­dent­ly are to be proac­tive. Prepar­ing homes for the chang­ing needs of the elder­ly can pre­vent haz­ardous falls and keep our seniors feel­ing a part of the com­mu­ni­ty. So, what do we do to keep our­selves and our loved ones safe and secure in their homes? Here are some tips to con­sid­er.

10 Senior Safety Tips

1. Take an hon­est appraisal of the liv­ing space in ques­tion and look for ways to pre­pare for liv­ing with the pos­si­bil­i­ty of reduced mobil­i­ty, bal­ance and mem­o­ry. And pre­pare the home for the case of care­giv­er access.
2. Are all areas of the home well-lit? Per­haps con­sid­er installing motion-acti­vat­ed light switch­es that will light up hall­ways and rooms the sec­ond motion is detect­ed. This may pre­vent a dan­ger­ous fall and injury in the mid­dle of the night.
3. Are the floor sur­faces non-slip, free of throw rugs, elec­tri­cal or phone cords that become trip­ping or slip­ping haz­ards?
4. Avoid acquir­ing pets that could get under­foot or require leash­es and long walks. As we age, our mobil­i­ty and bal­ance change. For exam­ple, a sig­nif­i­cant or hyper dog requires a great deal of care and can cause poten­tial­ly haz­ardous falls to frag­ile bones.
5. Stairs, when­ev­er pos­si­ble, should be avoid­ed. Liv­ing space all on 1 lev­el is pre­ferred but not always pos­si­ble. If you have stairs, ensure they are always free and clear of clut­ter. There should be a stur­dy handrail installed on both sides of the stair­case. The stairs should also be well lit, in good repair and have anti-slip strips installed on each one. If you use read­ing glass­es, remove them before using the stairs.
6. Fire safe­ty is also para­mount. Ensure work­ing smok­ing detec­tors are on every lev­el and in the sleep­ing area. Avoid using pow­er bars, exten­sion cords and space heaters. Have heat­ing sys­tems reg­u­lar­ly ser­viced and CO detec­tors installed. Keep a ful­ly charged fire extin­guish­er in easy reach in the kitchen.
7. The bath­room may seem insignif­i­cant, but it can be the source of many falls and injuries for seniors. Has an anti-scald faucet been installed in the show­er to pre­vent burns and ensure the hot water tem­per­a­ture is set at the rec­om­mend­ed tem­per­a­ture? Safe­ty Grab bars should be installed in the show­er, tub and beside the toi­let. Con­sid­er a raised toi­let seat and a show­er chair. Ensure the bath­room door lock has an emer­gency release and a night light or motion light is installed.
8. The Kitchen is a favourite place in many homes. It, too, has its share of poten­tial haz­ards. Of course, the stove is a sig­nif­i­cant haz­ard. Ensure switch­es are marked for “on” and “off”. Avoid large, heavy pots and keep oven mitts handy.
9. The bed­room should be equipped with a night light and an eas­i­ly acces­si­ble lamp or light switch that can be reached from the bed. Always ensure a clear path to the bath­room and turn on the lights. Keep a phone and a list of emer­gency num­bers near the bed­side.
10. The garage is often a favourite place and home to many pow­er­ful tools and equip­ment. Keep tools and equip­ment in good work­ing order. Be pre­pared for the dif­fer­ent sea­sons. Have salt and sand on hand for the slip­pery win­ter con­di­tions. Nev­er bar­be­cue inside your garage or leave a car idling. And be care­ful how chem­i­cals are stored, such as gaso­line, paint thin­ner, bat­ter­ies etc.

These ten tips are just touch­ing the high­lights of home safe­ty fro seniors.

Today’s tech­nol­o­gy allows us to do many things to help our­selves and our loved ones.

Every­thing from mon­i­tored alarm sys­tems, cam­era sys­tems and emer­gency mobile pen­dants can help keep our seniors healthy and inde­pen­dent much longer than in pre­vi­ous gen­er­a­tions. Take advan­tage of all or some of these options! Many can be done at min­i­mal cost and can be very ben­e­fi­cial.