As our loved ones get older, living independently can pose its challenges. There are heightened risks as the likes of balance, strength, eyesight and more begin to deteriorate. Accidents are more likely to happen, including the chance of falls.
For loved ones, it can be a real worry and there are several considerations you can take. For many, the best option is to look at residential care homes for the elderly, where loved ones are under continual supervision, get the help they need and live in facilities that are designed to suit their needs.
Residential homes can make a huge difference in the comfort of people’s lives, and there are many across Warwickshire. However, they’re also not the only option and peace of mind, as well as improved safety, can also come in taking regular and significant steps around your elderly loved ones life to ensure they reduce the risk of falls. This includes:
Home Safety Assessment
Conducting a thorough assessment of their home is one of the best places to start, as you’ll often find hazards do become more prominent as people get older and don’t necessarily have the energy to look after the home as consistently. Look out for loose rugs, cluttered pathways, uneven flooring and poor lighting, which all can pose issues.
Alongside this, it may be that you make the home more accessible, from installing handrails and non-slip mats, removing obstacles and even exploring the range of assistive devices available.
Assistive Devices
You’ll find many of these can significantly reduce the risk of falls. It may be that a walker or cane may be useful around the home. Or things such as grab bars in key areas of the house.
It may be that your loved one needs more significant help, for example a stair lift or medical alert system, where they can call for help in an emergency.
Regular Exercise
What can be significantly useful is keeping your loved one active. There are some simple exercises out there for seniors that can be hugely effective in improving strength, balance and flexibility, all of which can help reduce the risks of falls.
Activities such as walking, tai chi, yoga and swimming are all great for this, with even 30 minutes per day having a significant impact. However, it’s also important not to push your
loved one too far and it can be useful speaking to their GP to uncover the best exercises for them.
Vision and Hearing Checks
Of course, it could be eyesight or hearing that poses the biggest risk in your elderly loved one. So a simple step is to regularly go for check-ups to monitor visual and hearing health.
Professionals will be able to guide loved ones in the correct apparatus and update prescriptions to ensure they maintain awareness of surroundings and are able to react at a quicker speed to hazards.
Medication Management
Finally, monitoring medication and managing them effectively is incredibly important. As we all know, some medications can have side effects that include drowsiness, dizziness and loss of balance, which will naturally increase the risk of falls.
Speaking with a doctor about potential side effects is important, but so are taking prescriptions, so it’s all about managing the process and ensuring that when side effects may kick in the risk is reduced. It may be that somebody visits their loved one, or during that period of the day activities that don’t involve moving around the house are prioritised.
By taking these steps, the risks of a loved one falling at home can be significantly reduced, improving their health, safety and independence, as well as your own peace of mind.
