Your parent wants to age at home. The thought of moving isn’t appealing. It is possible, but there are things to consider. Bathroom safety is one of the most important.
For years, people have said the bathroom is the most dangerous room in the house. The CDC took a closer look at this belief in 2011. They did find that out of the 21.8 million non-fatal falls they studied more than 234,000 of those falls occurred in the bathroom. Many of those falls happened with elderly men and women. About 267 of every 100,000 falls were in people 85 or older.
Grab Bars Can Help Prevent Falls
The majority of seniors who fall in a bathroom do so getting in and out of a tub or shower or on/off the toilet. Grab bars can help prevent falls. They must be securely attached to wall studs and not just to the sheetrock.
Some believe that grab bars affect a home’s resale value. Opinions are mixed, but there’s an easy way around this. Install grab bars that have a secondary function. There are grab bars that have a second, smaller bar below the grab bar. That second bar holds a towel. The grab bar looks like a decorative towel rack, but it doubles as a safety feature.
Non-Slip Flooring is Important Both Inside and Outside the Shower/Tub
Non-slip bath mats inside and outside of the tub will help prevent some falls. When a floor gets wet, it gets slippery. With non-slip bath mats, suction or rubberized backing holds the mat securely in place. It won’t slip while your mom or dad get in and out of the tub or shower.
GFCI Outlets Are Essential
As your mom or dad ages, what happens if your mom drops her blow dryer into the toilet? Make sure the outlets in her bathroom have ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCI). If water and electricity accidentally mix, power cuts off to the outlet immediately.
Most homes automatically have GFCI outlets now. They were not required in bathrooms until the mid-1970s. If your mom or dad have an older home, they may not have gotten the outlets updated. Make sure an electrician installs them.
If you’re worried about your parent falling in the bathroom, hire an elderly care provider to be in the home during showers or baths. You don’t have to keep caregivers around all day long, but two or three hours in the morning ensures your mom or dad has someone on hand while they get out of bed, shower, and dress.
Elderly care service providers can cook meals, clean the house, and assist your parent with ambulation. Talk to our elderly care service providers about the rates in your area.
Source: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6022a1.htm
If you or an aging loved-one are considering Elderly Care Services in Atlantic Beach FL, please contact the caring staff at Home-Call Healthcare. Call today 904-861-0424.