Improving Home Safety

1. Have you reduced the temperature on the water heater?

Hot water can cause serious injury, so avoid scolding hot temperature by setting a default temperature to your water heater.

2. Is there enough Lighting?

Each room should be well lit so your loved one can easily navigate through the house day or night. Night vision gets weaker with age, so adequate lighting is important.

3. Are there smoke detectors?

Make sure there are working smoke detectors and remember to change the batteries yearly. (Check carbon monoxide detector too)

4. Are there handrails along the staircases?

Wherever there are steps, there should be railings. In home health care is important to be pre-emptive and maintaining balance and avoiding falls is critical.

5. Is there traction slips and handrails in the shower?

The bathroom should include traction slips and the shower should have hand rails. Again, avoiding falls for your parent or loved one is critical

6. How high are the toilet seats?

Installing an elevated toilet seat along with hand railings will assist seniors in getting up and down from the toilet. mobility issues can lead to problems sitting and standing, so accommodating this issue is helpful.

7. How hard is it to get into the shower?

Showers that have walk in tubs will avoid seniors tripping when getting into the shower. These can be costly to install, but avoiding difficult steps into the shower can improve hygiene and avoid injuries.

8. How are the floors/carpets holding up?

The floors should be an even, clean surface. You don’t want anyone to trip or stumble over any loose boards or lifted parts of the carpet. Reduce clutter and random objects throughout the house.

9. Can they hear knocking at the door?

Install a loud doorbell or a doorbell that turns on a light will help seniors hear/see when visitors arrive.

10. Where are items that need to be reached daily located?

Reaching daily items should be as easy as possible for seniors. Even with Home Health Aides, everything should be readily available.

11. Is there a fire extinguisher in the house?

Hopefully they will never need to use a fire extinguisher, but accidents happen. Leaving a stove on or forgetting to blow out a candle can easily occur.

12. Is there a phone or emergency alert system accessible?

 Phones are critical when a loved one is living alone. Additionally, alert systems may be useful for emergencies as well