Welcome to 2021! The Advantage Home Health Solutions team would like to wish you a very happy and healthy new year. Here’s hoping it’s one that will end without having us all enduring a pandemic. We’re also hopeful that 2021 is a year when no ill health effects or injuries burden your family. One way to help ensure that is to prioritize senior safety. If you live with elderly loved ones, there are some important steps to take to keep them free from harm.
Ensure adequate lighting throughout the home.
It’s no secret that many older adults contend with vision issues. Having impaired vision generally requires wearing prescription glasses. We all know that. However, it’s important to not underestimate the importance of good lighting. The brighter your home is, the easier it will be for the senior who lives within it to see where he/she is going. With adequate lighting throughout the home, you can prevent injury-inducing falls.
MaryAnn Edelman and Carmel T. Ficorelli are associate professors of nursing at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, New York. “Many older adults have sensory impairments, including impaired hearing and vision, that contribute to fall risk,” they inform us on behalf of Nursing 2021, “Their ability to adjust to night vision is decreased, and they need up to three times the amount of light that younger adults need to see well.”
Install bathroom grab bars.
Bathroom grab bars are highly recommended in homes where seniors live. They can be installed in the tub, shower, by the toilet or any other location where providing extra leverage and stability is necessary. Grab bars are available in a variety of lengths, colours and finishes and can be straight, curved, right angle or even swing away wall bars.
On APlaceForMom.com, Claire Samuels reminds us that most in-home falls occur in the bathroom “Age Safe America calls falls ‘a preventable epidemic’ and began a ‘Grab Bars are the New Seatbelts’ campaign last year,” she informs us.
Invest in the appropriate mobility solutions.
“Older adults may experience altered depth perception that can put them at risk for falls,” Edelman and Ficorelli remind us, “Functional limitations that impede their mobility and ability to engage in activities of daily living also increase the risk of falls and may ultimately contribute to placement in a long-term-care facility.”
At Advantage Home Health Solutions, we proudly provide a wide variety of mobility solutions and personal health care products for older adults. They include stair lifts, power lift chairs, scooters, wheelchairs, walkers and rollators and so much more!
As well, grab bars are just one of the many bathroom accessibility devices that we offer. Proper installation is crucial for bathroom grab bars and special fasteners are available to make them nearly impossible to pull out of the wall, even if studs can’t be found. Special precautions need to be taken when drilling into ceramic tile to ensure that the tiles don’t crack. Our highly trained installers will ensure that your grab bars stay put and that there is no damage to your ceramic tile finish.
For more information, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 403-460-5438. You may also email us by filling out the form on our Contact page!
