5 Ways Home Care Helps Seniors Avoid Falls at Home
If your senior loved one is living at home alone and you’re worried that they might fall and get hurt, home care can help. Falls can cause serious injuries like broken bones or concussions. And as seniors get older it can take them much longer to recover after a fall.
Home care can help keep your senior loved one safe at home, especially if you live far away, work full-time, or have small children that need you so you can’t visit your mom or dad every day. A home care provider and visit your mom or dad daily and help them with housework, preparing meals, laundry, and other tasks. A home care provider can also help prevent falls by doing things like:
Making the Home Safer
A home care provider can continuously check the safety of the home and remove any potential fall hazards. As the care provider does the cleaning and picks up clutter they can do things like make sure rugs are secure or remove them, pick up any clutter that could trip your mom or dad, and make sure cords are safely out of the way.
They can also keep the home environment safe by putting things your mom or dad often needs on easy-to-reach counters or tables, changing light bulbs when necessary, and making sure floors are not slippery.
Helping Your Senior Parent Get Around
A care provider can help your mom or dad avoid falls by providing support as they move around the house. They can also help them get in and out of bed, help them get dressed, and give them a shoulder to lean on going up the stairs or going to the bathroom.
Encourage Balance Exercises
Performing balance exercises or playing games can help seniors improve their balance and help them avoid falling. A home care provider can encourage your mom or dad to try balance-building exercises. And they can play games that will help improve balance and motor function like balloon volleyball or cornhole.
Medication Monitoring
Sometimes, side effects from medications can make seniors more likely to fall because they feel drowsy, dizzy, or off-balance. A home care provider can document any side effects that your senior parent is experiencing and let you and their doctor know about them.
This can be very important when your senior loved one is put on a new medication or while they are recovering from a fall or hospital stay and may be on stronger medications than usual.
Helping Your Senior Parent With Transportation
If your senior parent has to go out, having a care provider take them where they need to go is much safer than trusting a taxi or rideshare. A care provider can take all the time your senior parent needs to get in and out of the vehicle. And they can help your senior safely get in or out of the vehicle. With a care provider doing the driving your senior parent is less likely to fall and get hurt getting into or out of the vehicle.