Aging Parents at Home: Home Safety Tips for Seniors
The home is designed to be a secure haven for a family, including and especially the elderly loved ones. Keeping elderly parents at home is lovely as long as the setting is safe for everyone concerned. But keep in mind that senior care is one of the most challenging and demanding professions one can ever have. That is why caregivers are so vulnerable to burnout and significant health problems. When deciding to keep our senior loved ones at home, we need to make sure that we find balance ourselves. One way to do this is to make sure that there are no safety risks at home.
Caregivers strive to create innovative ways to keep a safe and stable environment. It is something that must be done to prevent the perils that the elderly may incur. If the person you provide care for is becoming unsteady, it is essential to tackle any threats.
The most prevalent types of mishaps involving senior people include falls, burns, and poisonings. They may also become victims of criminals who prey on the elderly through scams. When we are vigilant that these things will not happen, we will acquire peace of mind. To achieve this, here are some ways to turn a home into age-friendly with complete home safety:
Keep the place disinfected.
Eleanor Gaccetta’s caregiving book, One Caregiver’s Journey, emphasizes the significance of keeping a clean atmosphere in a senior’s home. It reveals that keeping the senior’s home clean has several advantages, including preventing hazardous germs and infections from entering their system. In the time of Covid-19, cleaning and disinfection have never been more critical. It has become a top concern for everyone due to the hazards posed by the coronavirus. And, since it has been proven that seniors are more vulnerable to this virus compared to other age groups, caregivers must take immediate and consistent action on this. Throughout the day, caregivers must disinfect worktops, phones, doorknobs, restrooms, and other high-touch objects or high-traffic spaces of the house.
Make sure everything is functional.
Not only will caregivers need to check safety hazards, but also everything that might give rise to accidents. Each week, checking if the stair risers are properly working or if the handrails are intact is essential. Anything that the senior always use should always be top of the list. Moreover, all safety items should be in working condition. In an effort to provide the safest possible atmosphere, test the smoke detector and replace the batteries, if necessary, make sure the fire extinguisher is charged correctly, and replace any burned-out lights.
Go over their medication.
A medication review will assist in keeping track of expiry dates and determine which medications the senior no longer need. You can do this periodically with your loved one’s primary physician. Furthermore, when your patient takes their medication on their own, make sure that they are taking it in a well-lit room. This way, they can see clearly and can identify the pills correctly. It would also be great to place everything in a safety pill reminder device with labels of day and time, so they know what to open and take each time. Also, reminding patients to bring all of their pill bottles to their doctor’s visits so that they can get checked and updated is also necessary.
Install a reliable security system.
The locks on your doors may not be good enough to keep away criminals that use seniors as their target. You need to come up with an approach that can create a more secure place, such as alarm systems, glass break and window sensors, and a security sign. There are many reasonably priced options to install some security cameras connected to your phone. However, it should not stop there; seniors are also victims of scams and talk over offers on the phone. Ensure that the elderly loved ones are reminded never to share personal information with strangers, such as social security numbers and credit cards.
The primary aim is to keep patients safe and comfortable at home, especially the elderly and seniors. With sufficient planning, we can make residential or home health care a dependable and primary alternative for senior caring in the following years.
I did have grandparents who needed such a care. It is a great article that you have shared!
Many thanks. We often decorate our homes with little knowledge that our favorite throw rugs can be very dangerous. I learned so much in my decade of caring for my mom. I hope my articles can at least help someone.