When taking care of your elderly loved one in their own home, you need to pay attention to their medical state. You should keep an eye out for physical and mental health issues. However, you should also pay attention to their environment, as well. There are many home dangers that elderly people need to be aware of. As a family caregiver or a home care provider, you should help the elderly person in your life to stay safe in their home.
Lighting Issues
One of the most common home dangers that your elderly loved one should be aware of is lighting issues. If there isn’t the right type of lighting in your loved one’s home, they could have a higher risk of falling. In addition, if there isn’t enough lighting outside, your elderly loved one’s home could be at a higher risk of being burglarized. You should put more lights in your loved one’s walkways, garage, bathrooms, hallways, and bedrooms.
Clutter is a Danger
There are many senior citizens who have clutter all throughout their home. If this is the case for your elderly loved one, this will greatly increase their chances of falling and being injured. It is important to remove the clutter from your elderly loved one’s home. If they don’t want to get rid of certain things, you could suggest that they get a storage unit for the stuff they don’t use often. You or their home care providers could go get these things if they ever need them.
Throw Rugs
If your elderly loved one has throw rugs in their home, these should be removed right away. They are a huge tripping hazard. There have been many senior citizens who tripped over a rug in their home and were injured because of doing so. If your loved one wants to keep these rugs in their home, be sure they are taped down as much as possible.
Water Dangers
There are also many senior citizens who get burned because the water in their home is too hot. As a family caregiver, you might need to change the temperature on their water heater. It is important that the water is never hot enough that your elderly loved one could burn themselves. Even if your elderly loved one doesn’t mean to turn the water so hot, they might not be able to feel it well enough to tell that it should be turned down.
Conclusion
These are some of the home dangers that your elderly loved one needs to be aware of. Not only should you help your elderly loved one to fix these issues, but you should talk to them about these things, too.
If you or an aging loved one needs homecare in Lincoln, CA, remember Senior Home Care Services. Call us at (916) 514-7006 for more information.
Sources
https://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/falls/index.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1615116/
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