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Caring for elderly relatives at home requires that you first make sure that your home environment is safe for them. Thousands of older Americans end up in the emergency room each year because of injuries they suffered at home. Many of these injuries can be prevented with just a few changes to your home environment.
 
The topic of home safety and making your home safe for seniors is an important issue that cannot be overlooked. In this blog post we will talk about just a few of the changes that you can make to ensure that your home is safe. But there are many more changes that you will need to consider and at the end of the post you will be pointed to additional resources where you can find more thorough information on this vitally important topic.
So let’s take a look at these seven tips that can help make your home a bit safer for your elderly relatives.
1. Bedroom and bathroom proximity
As much as you can make sure that the bedroom and bathroom that your seniors will be using are located as close as possible to one another — preferably on the same level of the house.
2. Handrails and grab bars
Installing handrails and grab bars in the bathroom will help your elderly loved ones, who still have some ability to steady themselves when they are getting up and down from the toilet and stepping in and out of the shower.  If there is room for a shower chair with arm rails, that is also a good option.
3. Stairway safety
Stairs, present a huge risk of falling for older people. As we age, our depth perception can become decreased, which increases the risk of falling especially on stairs. If it is possible to eliminate the necessity for them to use the stairs that would be ideal, but if they must use the stairs, make sure that there is a secure handrail that will support their weight along the wall. Also make sure that the banister is secure and firm and can also support their weight if they must lean on it for assistance in getting up and down the stairs.
4. Lighting
Because many elderly people have diminished eyesight, their night vision will be impaired too. Install light switches that are close to the doorway entrance nightlights along hallways that they will have to use at night between their bedroom and bathroom.  This will help eliminate the need for them to stumble along trying to find their way in the dark. You can buy battery-operated lights that stick to surfaces and just require a tap for them to turn on, or you can install motion sensor lights that, on automatically when they sense motion.
5. Rugs, and other tripping hazards
Area rugs on hardwood floors should have a nonskid pad attached to the bottom or better yet, be removed altogether. Cords that pass across doorways or passageways in the room should be removed and other tripping hazards around the house should be eliminated altogether.
 
6. Poison Control
Have the telephone number for poison control near every telephone in the house. Some elderly people take many different kinds of medications and if there is an emergency from an accidental overdose or poisoning from children having gotten their hands on medications, you don’t want to half to search for the number for poison control.
7. Smoke alarms
Make sure that your house has working smoke alarms.
The HSC (Home Safety Council) has lots of free resources including checklists that you can download so that you can do your own home safety audit:http://www.homesafetycouncil.org/SafeSeniors/sen_aging_w001.asp

Linnea Goodrich is the owner of Firstat Nursing Services, which is the only Homecare Agency in San Diego that is both State licensed and certified by the Alzheimer’s Association.  Firstat Nursing Services has been providing a higher standard of home nursing, home health and homecare for elderly, disabled and injured people in the greater San Diego area since 1997.  To pick up a copy of her free report “Critical Questions You Must Ask Before You Hire a Home Care Provider,” Visit,http://FirstatofSanDiego.com
 

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Caring for elderly relatives at home requires that you first make sure that your home environment is safe for them. Thousands of older Americans end up in the emergency room each year because of injuries they suffered at home. Many of these injuries can be prevented with just a few changes to your home environment.
 
The topic of home safety and making your home safe for seniors is an important issue that cannot be overlooked. In this blog post we will talk about just a few of the changes that you can make to ensure that your home is safe. But there are many more changes that you will need to consider and at the end of the post you will be pointed to additional resources where you can find more thorough information on this vitally important topic.
So let’s take a look at these seven tips that can help make your home a bit safer for your elderly relatives.
1. Bedroom and bathroom proximity
As much as you can make sure that the bedroom and bathroom that your seniors will be using are located as close as possible to one another — preferably on the same level of the house.
2. Handrails and grab bars
Installing handrails and grab bars in the bathroom will help your elderly loved ones, who still have some ability to steady themselves when they are getting up and down from the toilet and stepping in and out of the shower.  If there is room for a shower chair with arm rails, that is also a good option.
3. Stairway safety
Stairs, present a huge risk of falling for older people. As we age, our depth perception can become decreased, which increases the risk of falling especially on stairs. If it is possible to eliminate the necessity for them to use the stairs that would be ideal, but if they must use the stairs, make sure that there is a secure handrail that will support their weight along the wall. Also make sure that the banister is secure and firm and can also support their weight if they must lean on it for assistance in getting up and down the stairs.
4. Lighting
Because many elderly people have diminished eyesight, their night vision will be impaired too. Install light switches that are close to the doorway entrance nightlights along hallways that they will have to use at night between their bedroom and bathroom.  This will help eliminate the need for them to stumble along trying to find their way in the dark. You can buy battery-operated lights that stick to surfaces and just require a tap for them to turn on, or you can install motion sensor lights that, on automatically when they sense motion.
5. Rugs, and other tripping hazards
Area rugs on hardwood floors should have a nonskid pad attached to the bottom or better yet, be removed altogether. Cords that pass across doorways or passageways in the room should be removed and other tripping hazards around the house should be eliminated altogether.
 
6. Poison Control
Have the telephone number for poison control near every telephone in the house. Some elderly people take many different kinds of medications and if there is an emergency from an accidental overdose or poisoning from children having gotten their hands on medications, you don’t want to half to search for the number for poison control.
7. Smoke alarms
Make sure that your house has working smoke alarms.
The HSC (Home Safety Council) has lots of free resources including checklists that you can download so that you can do your own home safety audit:http://www.homesafetycouncil.org/SafeSeniors/sen_aging_w001.asp

Linnea Goodrich is the owner of Firstat Nursing Services, which is the only Homecare Agency in San Diego that is both State licensed and certified by the Alzheimer’s Association.  Firstat Nursing Services has been providing a higher standard of home nursing, home health and homecare for elderly, disabled and injured people in the greater San Diego area since 1997.  To pick up a copy of her free report “Critical Questions You Must Ask Before You Hire a Home Care Provider,” Visit,http://FirstatofSanDiego.com
 

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