7 Home Safety Tips for Seniors
With age comes decreasing mobility and slower reflexes, which can lead to falls and accidents around the house. Here are some tips on how to keep your home as safe as possible, from in-home care specialists in Sparta, NJ.
1. Rearrange your everyday pantry staples
Pantries are wonderful spaces for storing household necessities from canned goods to baking equipment, cleaning products, emergency kits, and anything else you could think of. However, this means pantries can get cluttered very quickly, and often.
Take a look at your pantry space with a critical eye and plan to make it as accessible as possible, while minimizing fall risks. Put everyday staples on the middle shelves where you don’t have to reach up, stand on a stool, or bend low down to reach them. If you have a big pantry, try to keep the floor space clear and the area well lit.
2. Install and maintain alarms
Make sure the home has enough smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and place them in relevant areas. For example, there should always be a smoke detector in the kitchen close to the stove, and a carbon monoxide detector near heaters. Test the alarms once a year and replace the batteries as needed.
3. Live clutter-free
If you’ve lived in your home for many years, chances are that it’s not just full of memories – it’s full of stuff! Clutter is the easiest thing to trip over, but fortunately it’s also one of the easiest obstacles to eliminate. Get family and neighbors to help out with organizing your space. Send useful items you no longer want to charity, set up a backyard sale, and then take whatever is left over to the dump. Once you live in a clutter-free home with everything in its rightful place, you will never want to fall back into your old ways. You will find that staying organized is good for your mind and your soul, as well as your physical health!
4. Increase home lighting
It’s easy for lightbulbs around the house to get dimmer over time without you noticing. But fading lights plus poor vision make for serious fall risks! Take this opportunity to upgrade your lights to LEDs. They come in a wide range of brightness and tones, can fit in any fixture, and they last much longer than regular light bulbs, while using less than a tenth of the energy. If you don’t want to upgrade every single bulb, focus on creating more light in fall risk areas like stairs, bedrooms, bathrooms, and outdoor spaces. One great tip is to put lighting strips along stairs and a press-on light by the bed.
5. Tailor clothes
Clothes don’t come in the right size for every body type, and it’s a big problem for seniors. Loose, long sleeves and too-long pants make it easy to trip and fall. They catch onto everything from your feet to railings, cabinets, and rugs. It’s important to tailor all your clothes so that they fit just right. It’s not only a great way to help prevent falls, you’ll also get to support a local business – and let’s face it, clothes that fit well just feel so much better!
6. Grab bars and assistive gear
They may not be particularly attractive, but boy oh boy, do they keep you safe! Not to mention, a lot of the more modern grab bars and assistance gear actually look much better than you think. It’s a quick and easy job for a local handyman to install within your home, plus you will feel less worried about falling while bathing or going up and down the stairs.
7. Live on one level
If possible, live mainly on the ground floor of your home. It’s a simple solution that only requires a little rearranging of the furniture. You can use your upstairs for storage, while keeping the ground floor clutter-free and clear of hazards.
As a provider of in-home care in Sparta, NJ, we know the importance of avoiding slip and fall accidents in the home. If you would like to find out more about our services or start the process of getting your own in-home assistance, contact us today or visit our website at https://umcommunities.org/homeworks/home-health-aide-services/
