Did you know that over 36 million older adults fall each year? This results in around 36,000 deaths annually.
Falls may seem like a small incident, but in seniors, it can be the difference between life and death.
This is why for Fall Prevention Awareness Day on September 21st, we want you to keep your loved ones safe. With these simple fall prevention tips, you do not have to worry about calls to the emergency room over a preventable fall.
1. Keep Their Home Tidy
By keeping their home neat and clean, you are helping your senior loved one to stay safe. If they have papers, shoes, boxes, and other small items on the floor or by the stairs, it is important that you move them.
They might be used to having small items in certain spots, or think that they won’t cause any harm, but one small move can cause a trip and fall.
This also includes moving items such as loose cords, slippery mats, and toys.
To make matters worse, if your loved one is alone and not close to a phone, it could take hours or days for someone to notice. To avoid this situation from occurring, the easiest step is to clean up.
2. Install Handrails and Other Safety Devices
In order to improve senior safety and prevent falls, installing safety devices is crucial.
Installing handrails near stairs, steps, and in the bathroom will ensure safety from falls. By having something to hold onto while adjusting their weight, they will better be able to get their balance right and secure themselves before they move again.
For example, if they have a bathtub that they need to climb into every day to shower, one day they might slip due to water, due to uneven footing, or just bad luck. However, if they have something to hold while entering, you can prevent a fall and a serious injury.
Another safety device could include indoor stairlifts if your loved one lives in a house with stairs and a handrail is not enough to prevent a fall.
3. Adequate Lighting
This one is also a fairly simple fix. If your senior loved one has dim lighting in their house or in certain spots of their home, we recommend buying a new light bulb or even adding a lamp.
By having a home that is difficult to see in, you are setting your elderly loved one up for failure. Not only will it be harder to see what might be on the floor, but it will also be hard to see where they are going.
If they run into something hard enough, it can cause them to get off balance and fall.
4. Relocate
Sometimes even with all of these changes, falls can still happen due to age.
If you have tried these previous suggestions and nothing has changed, it might be in your best interest to find an assisted living residence or senior living community for your loved one where they always have someone to check in on them and keep them safe.
Fall Prevention Overview
If your senior loved one has been fortunate enough to never experience a fall, these tips may seem unhelpful. However, for those who have experienced a fall and never wish to experience it again, they know just how useful these small changes can make.
In order to stop falls, it is important to follow these fall prevention tips. If living on their own isn’t an option, click here to learn about what you can do instead.
