Ways to Prevent Senior Falls
From strengthening your body, to ensuring clutter isn’t in the way, there are many ways to help minimize the falling risk for our senior loved ones. For senior citizens, the risk of falling is a fact of life.
Each year, more than one in four older people take a tumble. Those falls often lead to serious injuries or hospitalizations. To help ensure your senior loved one stays steady on their feet, there are many steps you can take.
Keep Them Healthy
Researchers say there are many factors that contribute to falls among senior citizens including:
- Lower body weakness
- Vitamin D deficiency
- Difficulties with walking and balance
- Some medicines, such as tranquilizers, sedatives, antidepressants and even some over-the-counter medicines
- Vision problems
- Foot pain or poor footwear
To address some of these, it is important for seniors to stay active, and to stay healthy, which can help minimize some of their falling risks. Doing exercises to make their legs strong and improve their balance can help. Have them give yoga or strength training a try. Many classes are geared specifically for seniors.
If your senior loved one has any of these risk factors, it also is important to reach out to their healthcare providers to address them. Doctors and healthcare providers can evaluate them for their risk of falling, and help them target specific ways to minimize their risks.
When was the last time they had their vision checked? It is important to check that to ensure they can see any potential hazards, and can judge how close or far away things are.
Evaluate Their Surroundings
Take a good look at your senior loved one’s home. Are there falling hazards? Often clutter can lead to tripping. They might love having books around and a blanket at their feet, but if they are not careful, they could trip on both.
Uneven floors also can cause a tumble. If a senior using a walker goes from a hard floor to a carpeted area, the change in levels can cause issues. Sometimes families put caution tape on the floors so their senior loved ones know to be careful in that area when walking around the home.
Many studies have shown that rugs, even that cute cozy bath mat you got your senior loved one to keep her feet warm, can pose a hazard. Feet can get caught under the edges, and lead to falls. You might want to remove all rugs from the home, or at least ensure that they are no-slip.
To ensure your senior loved one can see any hazards in their way, ensure that they have enough lighting in their home and that it is bright enough for them to see.
If they are unsteady on their feet, you might want to install grab bars in the bathrooms near the toilet, and in the shower. They can help steady them during their everyday activities. Having a railing on both sides of the stairs is a necessity for wobbly seniors.
Hire Someone To Help
Even though you feel like you have fall-proofed your senior loved one’s home, accidents still can happen. When you can’t be there, it is often nice to know there is someone else looking out for their well being and ensuring they are safe on their feet.
Mahy home care agencies, including Visiting Angels Bloomington, have trained professionals that are experts in fall prevention. Not only can they be there as your senior goes about their daily life, navigating their home, they also can be a steady hand as your senior ventures out of the home.
You are busy, and can’t always be there when your senior needs. Having an expert that you can trust, and that is just as focused on ensuring your senior doesn’t fall as you are, can give you peace of mind. Talk to different agencies, and see which ones can help with your needs.
We Can Help
If you are looking for help with your senior loved one, our professionals at Visiting Angels of Bloomington can help. We provide a variety of home care services, fall prevention services and a safe and steady program. We can tailor our home care services to meet your needs.
Our expert team of caregivers serves clients in Brown, Bartholomew, Johnson, Monroe, Shelby and Rush Counties, including in Bloomington, Columbus and Nashville. To learn more about the services we can help you and your seniors with, call our offices at (812) 940-4105, or complete this form online.