Sunday, February 14, 2016

Home Safety for the elderly


We are all getting older and we have to plan for when we do retire we will be spending the majority of time at home. On another note many of us are taking care of our elderly parents (as I do) who normally able to handling everyday tasks on their own. I am always concerned about home safety for the elderly or seniors. It is very difficult to stay home with them for long periods of times to monitor their daily activities. They should enjoy their personal freedom and independence as we all do. However, we must make sure our loved ones take the necessary precaution to be safe while being in the house.

You may want to consider a medical alert type of service this way if you are not home and something should happen they would be able to contact someone for help. In the case when you are unable to make this type of investment you try and set up a buddy system. You can use a close friend or neighbor who could look in on your loved one while you are out of the house. 

Many accidents in the house are a result of a slip and fall at home. Those who are 65 and older tend to fall when they do they seldom tell anyone when the fall occurs in the home. So we have to conduct a visual inspection of the inside the home to make sure all floors and walkways are clear remove loose carpeting or wires in high traffic areas of the home. You should remove all scatter rugs from wood floors. If you are able to you should replace hard wood floors with carpeting. Any staircases should have study rails for assistance walking up and down stairs the steps should have non slip surface as well. Anyone who is having difficulty walking should be using a correctly measured walking aid. Footwear should be checked frequently the footwear must fit properly and the soles should be low and not deteriorated.

Drug safety for seniors is very important. You must check their medication frequently discard any that have expired. The medicine must be clearly labeled or highlighted so that you can tell the difference between medications.  All medication should be stored in one location where everyone knows where it is in case of an emergency you can gather the medication and take it with you make an effort to be familiar with the medication you loved ones are taking. This is information will be important not only in an emergency but when you have discussion with your primary care physician.

I hope this post was helpful as always please leave a comment below.

Mark Carvajal



1 comment:

  1. Great job, awesome blog, thank you for sharing with us, keep it up!

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