As they get older, many seniors want to continue living in their own homes. Their homes offer comfort and familiarity and will often be where they have spent most of their life. Later life, however, can bring mobility issues. These can make it hard to get around at home. Here are some safety tips to help your senior relatives move around at home.
1. Keep Walkways Clear
When moving around your home, it is important that your senior relatives’ routes are clear of obstructions. Trips are amongst the leading causes of falls in and around the home. They may be caused by boxes left in hallways, cables trailing over the carpet, or curled edges on rugs.
If you are worried that your loved one is likely to experience a fall in the home, it is important that their walkways are kept clear. Take some time to do a thorough check of their home. Tape down the edges of rugs – or remove them if necessary. Move clutter to less obstructive storage spaces and remove cables from pathways.
2. Illuminate Pathways
Another contributor to falls in the home is poor lighting. When your loved ones cannot see what is under their feet, they are more likely to lose their balance or bump into something. Accidents can be avoided by ensuring the entirety of a walkway is illuminated.
Better lighting reduces fall risk and seeing where they are going can also support seniors’ natural balance. When walking in the dark, spatial awareness can also be impacted negatively.
3. Install Handrails in Hallways
We mentioned handrails as a solution in our post on bathroom safety tips, and they remain relevant throughout the home. Whilst handrails do not need to be installed on every surface, placing them intermittently throughout the home provides some reassurance to seniors. If they feel dizzy, or have a fall, they can use the handrail to brace themselves or pull themselves back up – if they feel strong enough.
Handrails can also prove useful if your senior relative has poor eyesight, or poor lighting in their home. They can be used to guide them from one room to another with reduced risk of bumping into anything.
More Safety Advice for Seniors
Hopefully these simple tips will help your senior loved ones feel safer around the home. To provide further reassurance and security, we recommend installing a medical alert system. For more information, check out our about us page, or get in touch with our friendly team.