Stairs are a huge safety concern for aging adults. Falls alone are risky enough, but if your elderly family member has one or more sets of stairs in her home, you may want to take some extra precautions to help her to avoid a fall. Some of these ideas can help quite a bit, but you might also want to talk with your senior’s doctor about her possible fall risks. That way you and your Home Care Assistance provider can be even more prepared.
Make Sure Stairs Are Properly Maintained
Proper stair maintenance is crucial. Check your elderly family member’s stairs and make sure that handrails are in good working order and that the stairs themselves are in good condition. Bare wood stairs can sometimes be slippery, but so can carpeted stairs. Look for ways to make your senior’s stairs as safe as possible.
Improve Lighting Around the Stairs
One solution that you can put into place is to increase or improve lighting in the stairway for your senior. Adding a motion-sensing light can be a great idea because this type of light turns on immediately without your aging family member having to remember to switch it on. If changing the lighting isn’t possible, you might want to look at other ways to make the stairs safer.
Encourage Your Senior to Wear Supportive Shoes
What your senior wears on her feet can also matter a lot when it comes to stair safety. Your senior’s shoes should have a non-slip sole and they need to fit her feet properly. If she doesn’t like wearing shoes, reminders from home care assistance can help her to wear them more often. At the very least, try to compromise with your senior by finding slippers that have non-skid soles.
Remove as Many Hazards Around Stairs as Possible
Hazards around the stairs take a dangerous situation and make them even more potentially harmful. If there are rugs around the top of bottom of the stairs, make sure to remove them. Also, keep clutter off the stairs. Elder care providers can help to stay on top of removing obstacles and other safety concerns.
Get Help for Your Senior
Having help from home care assistance, in general, can make a big difference in terms of stair safety for your aging adult. She can have someone to lean on when her mobility is not as good as she wants it to be. Caregivers are also able to be on the lookout for other signs of potential issues, like dizziness or symptoms from medications that your senior takes. Being aware of all the possible issues that could affect her safety around stairs is so important.
Stair safety is nothing to be blasé about, either. If your elderly family member is having significant issues with her stairs, consider bringing all of her main living areas onto one floor. This can involve being creative and changing some of the ways your elderly family member uses and enjoys her home. But those changes are worth it to help her to be safer.
For more information about hiring Home Care Assistance in San Diego, CA, call the friendly caregivers at La Jolla Nurses Homecare who can help your aging parents remain in their own homes, at 858-454-9339. We are a home care agency providing quality and affordable senior care in La Jolla, CA, and the surrounding communities.
Today we are the oldest and most experienced private duty agency in San Diego County.She saw a need for quality private duty home health care and she worked diligently to build an agency that filled that need.I am proud to say, her vision is carried on today with our dedicated staff.
I believe our tenure in the community speaks well for us.We have had the opportunity to be of service to countless interesting individuals, including local and worldwide celebrities.It is the people we care for that makes this a fascinating industry.Whether high profile or a more ordinary citizen, we are proud that thousands have entrusted us with their care or the care of their loved ones.Our Mission is to provide high quality, very secure and the most compassionate home health care.We believe that patients heal faster and are happiest when they can stay in their homes.”
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