There are some things that often need to be done to an elderly person’s home to ensure it is safe for them to keep living there. If you are a family caregiver, there are some home safety tips that you and their elderly care providers need to know about in order to keep your elderly loved one safe in their home.
Keep reading here to find out what these tips are and how you and their elderly care aides can help.
Checking Their Medications
One of the most important ways to keep your elderly loved one’s home safe is by checking their medications. Some elderly people don’t organize their medications well. They may have them all sitting on their countertop. This might cause them to get confused when it is time to take their medications.
Other seniors can’t remember what medications they are supposed to take. If this is the case for your elderly loved one, you or an elderly care provider can check on your loved one’s medications. You or the elderly care provider can help them to organize their medications, so they make sure to take the right ones. If needed, someone can give a reminder call to your loved one when it is time to take their medications.
Safety Products
Your loved one might need safety products in their home, as well. This could include a wide range of things depending on your elderly loved one’s needs. They might need a ramp on their front porch. They might need a smoke alarm that flashes instead of having one that just has an alarm. Some seniors can’t hear the alarm well, but they can see the light flashing. Your loved one might need tape under their carpets to help hold those flat to the ground. These are just some of the things that your elder loved one might need to keep their home safer.
Change the Home’s Layout
As your loved one gets older, they may have more difficulties getting around their home. For example, many people can’t climb stairs well. They may have pain in their legs or back that prevent them from getting up the stairs at all. If this is the case, you may need to change the layout in their home. You may have to move their bedroom to the main level of the house. This way, they don’t have to go upstairs anymore. This is just one example of how the layout of your loved one’s home may need to be changed.
These are some of the home safety tips that you may need to know about it. Think about these tips and decide which ones might help your elderly loved one.
Sources: https://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/pubs/english/booklet_eng_desktop-a.pdf
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/topics/home-safety