Falling and injuring oneself doesn’t have to be a normal part of aging for your loved one. While some health issues can make it more likely for your loved one to take a tumble, just having that knowledge can help you and your loved one prevent those falls from occurring. You don’t want the fear of falling to stop your loved one from going to events or running errands with her senior home care provider or family member.
Here are some factors to review with your loved one and her senior home care provider, to see where you might want to take extra care to prevent a fall.
- Your loved one uses a cane or walker to get around. Both of these assistance devices should provide support so your loved one can get around without falling, but they both can also cause falls, especially when they get tangled or caught up on something on the floor or ground. If your loved one uses either, it’ll be important for you to be diligent about keeping the floors free from any loose articles.
- Your loved one has poor balance. Whether it’s because of medication or a medical condition, if your loved one finds herself holding onto furniture or walls to move around, it can increase her risk of falling. Providing support rails around the home that are solid and will not shift or collapse when she uses them is important. While out and about, having an arm of a senior home care provider to hold onto will help along with a walker.
- Your loved one has weak leg muscles. If you’ve noticed your loved one has to use her arms to push her up from a chair or has trouble lifting her foot to step up onto a curb, it could increase her risk of falling. Weak leg muscles have less of the ability to react to a change in a person’s stance and may crumble if a sudden shift is needed when walking or maneuvering around a room.
- Your loved one has to rush to the bathroom. Fear of soiling oneself and running to the bathroom is a common occurrence that leads to a fall. That shift from the carpet of the hallway to the tile of the bathroom may cause your loved one to slip and hurt herself. Your loved one should start to head to the bathroom as soon as the urge hits and not wait until it becomes urgent. Also, having the floor to the bathroom clear and making sure any rugs are non-slip will help.
- Your loved one has lost some feeling in her feet. Diseases like diabetes can cause the feet to be numb or tingly, reducing their ability to feel the ground under them and know if jthey’re on a steady surface or not.
Even if your loved one doesn’t have any of these conditions, falls can happen at any point. Being proactive by having an environment that’s clean and safe for your loved one can help reduce her risk of tripping and falling.
If you are considering senior home care in Garden Oaks, TX for an aging loved one, please call the caring staff at At Your Side Home Care. We will answer all of your senior care questions. Call today: (832) 271-1600.
Our Certified Nurse Aides, 24-Hour Live-in Assistants and Home Health Aides are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We also provide the security and confidence of 24-hour Telephone Assistance, so fast, reliable help is always available when it's needed. To learn more about our homecare services see our homecare services page.
Different people need different levels of homecare. To meet the requirements of our clients, At Your Side Homecare maintains consistent staffing levels of caring professionals. Homecare service is available for as little as a few hours a week, or as many as 24 hours a day, seven days a week
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