Three million older adults fall every year. Of those falls, more than 800,000 patients end up in the hospital due to injuries. Twenty percent of injuries cause bone fractures or head injuries. Bathrooms are a prime spot for these injuries, due to the harder surfaces on sinks, tubs, and toilets.
Fall prevention requires several steps. Your dad needs to work on his balance and mobility, but he also needs to heighten safety in his bathroom. These bathroom fall prevention tips help you get started.
Make the Tub or Shower Floor Non-Slip
A non-slip bath mat in the shower area is ideal for preventing slips while showering. Shampoo, soap, and conditioners can make a floor slick. If your dad has a bath mat with suction cups on the feet, it helps stop potential falls while showering.
Invest in a Shower Seat
If your dad’s balance isn’t ideal, a shower seat is important. While he showers, he can sit down. Some tubs and shower stalls have a seat built-in. You can also get models that attach to the walls.
Add Grab Bars
Several areas within a bathroom need grab bars. In a small bathroom, consider a combination grab bar and towel bars, where the top portion is a grab bar, and there’s a smaller bar below for hanging a towel. Grab bars need to be placed inside and outside the tub and shower, and behind and to the side of the toilet.
Install Non-Slip Flooring
Tile and linoleum flooring get very slick when your feet are wet. Bath mats with non-slip treads are handy, but it may be time to replace the flooring. Install non-slip waterproof vinyl plank or tile flooring.
Update the Lighting
Update your dad’s lighting. If he has older light fixtures, they’re not as bright as modern LED fixtures. Not only is LED brighter, but it is also energy-efficient and saves money on energy bills.
Add an Emergency Call Button
It’s a good time to address the benefits of having a medical alert system in your dad’s home. A call button in his bathroom is ideal. If he does slip, he can easily alert others for help. Another option would be a smart speaker that connects to other speakers in the home. The broadcast function can send a voice message to all other speakers in the house.
In-home care services support your dad by making sure someone is there when he showers. He doesn’t have to have a caregiver help him shower. It’s often enough for him to have a caregiver there to help him into the shower, take his towel once he’s closed the curtain, and wait for him to finish.
When he’s ready to get back out of the shower, his in-home care aide can hand him a towel, wait until he opens the curtain, and support him while he steps out. A specialist in in-home care can go over pricing and how to create a schedule that supports his needs.
If you or an aging loved one are considering In-Home Care in La Mesa, CA, please contact the caring staff at Aaron Home Care. (619) 880-5522
A Trusted Home Care Agency Serving La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Point Loma, San Diego, UTC, La Mesa, Chula Vista, Coronado, Bonita, Eastlake and the surrounding areas.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/falls/facts.html
In 1999, Aaron was named Residential Program Manager of a group home for disabled adults in Arlington, Virgina. Here, he built a reputation for being compassionate with his clients and efficient in company operations. In the years that followed, Washington DC’s human services field went through unprecedented reform when the city was fined $11 million for the previously unchecked abuse, neglect, and exploitation of the very population it was supposed to protect. In 2005, Aaron was selected by a watchdog company to co-create and implement a monitoring system to safeguard and advocate for the system’s most vulnerable residents. This system is still in use today.
Aaron is now using his unique gifts and profound experience in the human service field to provide San Diego County Seniors with dependable, compassionate caregivers through Aaron Home Care.
He currently serves on the board of the San Diego Regional Home Care Council and is an active member of the Senior Advocate Network of San Diego.
Aaron Home Care is a member of the American Board of Home Care and is accredited by the Better Business Bureau.
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