La Jolla Senior Care News

Personal Care At Home: 4 Tripping Hazards For Seniors Most People Never Think About

Personal Care At Home: When seniors are aging in place their homes must be made safe for them. That includes removing any tripping hazards to lower the chances that they will fall.
elderly woman falling in bathroom
Personal Care At Home: Tripping Hazards

Personal Care At Home: When seniors are aging in place their homes must be made safe for them.

That includes removing any tripping hazards to lower the chances that your senior loved ones will fall and hurt themselves. Area rugs, furniture, and other common tripping hazards are the first things that people tend to remove when they are trying to make a senior’s home safe. But there are some other tripping hazards that can be just as dangerous that also need to addressed like:

Shoes That Don’t Fit Properly

One of the things that people often forget to help their senior loved ones is their clothing. If your senior parent’s shoes are worn out, in disrepair, or loose they can cause your senior loved one to trip and fall. A personal care at home provider who helps your senior loved one get dressed often is a great person to check in regularly to check on the status of your senior loved one’s shoes and clothes. Ask the elder care provider to let you know right away if they notice that your senior loved one is shuffling or if their shoes look like they are worn out and need to be replaced.

Loose Stairs

Home maintenance is an important part of keeping seniors safe as they age at home. If your senior loved ones are living in an older home like the family home that they’ve lived in for decades be sure that you or a contractor check the stairs often. Loose stair treads, shifting wood, and loose railings can all cause seniors to trip and fall. If possible try to create a primary suite for your senior parents on the first floor of the home so that they don’t need to climb the stairs multiple times each day. But if that’s not possible pay special attention to the condition of the stairs to keep your senior parents safe from falls.

Slippery Surfaces

Most people remember to put anti-slip decals in the shower or the tub but they don’t think about other slippery surfaces in the home. Linoleum floors, tile floors, and vinyl floors can all be extremely slippery even when they are dry. Get your senior parents shoes or slippers that have strong tread on the bottom so that they won’t slip as they walk around the house. You also may want to add a special anti-slip coating to the floors to make it less likely that your senior loved ones will slip on the floors around the house.

Personal Care At Home:  Cords

Extension cords are an obvious hazard for seniors, but regular cords can also be a hazard for seniors that use canes or walkers. It’s very easy for seniors to get the end of a cane or the tip of a walker leg stuck in a cord. That can throw them off balance as they try to walk and end up causing a fall. Use cord keepers or even just some Velcro strips to get cords up off the floor wherever possible. A personal care at home provider can help to keep all these hazards out of your senior’s home.

 

For more information about hiring Personal Care At Home in San Diego, CA, call the friendly caregivers at La Jolla Nurses Homecare who can help your aging parents remain in their own homes, at 858-454-9339. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable senior care in La Jolla, CA, and the surrounding communities.

Brittnei Salerno

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