home safety tips for senior citizens

safety tips for senior citizens

If you have elderly people at home, you must take care of their safety in every way possible and tend to their needs. Whilst some changes might need effort and time, the majority of them are regular and a fundamental change in all directions will suffice. You can guard them against hazards inside the home by taking some senior citizen safety measures. Regardless of whether the elderly will be residing with you, or staying separately in their home, here are certain things that you must bear in mind. 

8 home safety tips for seniors

Check hardware fittings

Make sure that the hardware fittings aren’t too loose as it may cause severe injury to someone if they have malfunctioned or get worn off eventually. Older people might often find it hard to work with contemporary fittings, like intricate doorknobs etc. To keep things simple and make it easy for them to operate, you need to replace them with simple accessories that are functional as well. Inspect the faucets and fittings in bathrooms, drawers, doors, etc. Ensure that the locks, knobs, and handles are secure and easy for the elderly to close and open, even when they are in a hurry. 

Kitchen access

Regardless of whether the seniors are living with you or not, the kitchen is a place wherein they should have quick and unrestricted access, in order to avoid any possibility of an accident. Pull-out drawers that are a part of modern kitchens or just standalone ones are good when it comes to quick and easy access. The knobs must be trouble-free to hold and pull out. If necessary, you should consider adding safety gears to the drawer so that they do not result in any accidental injury because of swift finger catches. 

Secure floor mats

You need to secure the floor mats in the bathrooms and also in the rooms. If you have floor rugs, ensure that they are not slippery or loose so that it doesn’t cause someone to trip or slide. You can make use of senior citizen safety products such as rug fasteners to help keep your rugs in position. They are available in all major hardware stores. It is an easy measure that helps create less hassles when it comes to senior safety. 

Bathroom safety

One more senior safety tips that you must bear in mind is the bathroom safety. There’s a chance for the bathroom to be a high accident-prone zone, wherein the odds of a fall or any other injury are certainly high. To ensure that the seniors are safe, place non-skid mats inside the bathtub. Rather than having modern hand-held taps and shower heads, you can opt for the ones that can be used by your dear ones even when they are seated. Attach handles or rails on the toilet seat sides and the shower to help them with their balance issues.  

Shower chair

Home safety tips for seniors also include buying products that they can safely use in the shower. You can buy a shower chair for your loved ones. It is a specially customized chair that they can utilize in the bath zone to be seated and take a shower. It certainly helps because the senior member doesn’t need to stand on the floor, which again is a potential risk area that often results in a fall.  Most shower chairs can be customized to operate as toilet chair seats as well.

Canes or walkers

A walker or a cane can help seniors stabilize walking and preserve balance, thereby lowering their chances of an accident. Most walkers and canes have rubber tips attached to the bottom to help offer a good grip and prevent skidding. Ensure that you check the height of the walker or cane so that the senior can feel comfortable while using it.

Examine the smoke detectors

You might have smoke detectors at home and might have completely ignored the fact that you installed them in the first place. You must examine them two times every year and replace the batteries if required. 

Get medical assistance whenever necessary

If you reside alone or if you are at the workplace and the seniors require help for some reason, you should be able to get them to help immediately. There are various agency types that offer assistance. You should keep an SOS device handy so that they can let you know in case of an emergency. 

Even as you monitor the home safety tips for older adults mentioned here, you also need to ensure that there’s a safety latch on the main door. If possible, install a security alarm, particularly if the seniors live alone. 

If you are seeking home safety measures for elderly, there are some companies that you can employ. Portea delivers quality care with compassion. They bring quality medical care into the patients’ homes and aspire to make primary healthcare not just accessible but more affordable and accountable to the patient’s needs as well.  They offer a variety of healthcare services including critical care, diabetes care, elder care, physiotherapy, nursing care, doctor consultation, and counselling.