Maintaining good senior health is no small feat. That’s why it’s so critical to take every precaution for keeping seniors safe and secure in their homes and when they leave the confines of those residences.
No amount of caution is too much and it takes a thorough and well-rounded approach to the task if you aim to sufficiently protect a senior from potential harm. Whether it’s taking those safety measures to keep seniors cool during the hottest months of the year, safe-guarding the home in order to avoid slip and fall incidents, or keeping a close eye on any prescriptions and medications that need to be administered on a routine basis, there are plenty of ways to ensure that a senior is safe and happy.
Your friends at In-Home Senior Care Asheville NC are dedicated to keeping older adults free from harm and that’s why we’ve compiled this list of the most important safety measures for seniors to help the elderly and their loved ones take steps to preventing injury, illness, or something far more tragic from taking place.
Staying Hydrated
This is an important safety measure to consider year round, yet it takes on even more significant meaning during the summer, when it can be much tougher for seniors to regulate their temperature. Drinking enough water helps seniors’ bodies and internal systems work properly and replenish themselves. It can also be extremely beneficial for keeping seniors from getting overheated.
Safeguarding the Home
There are many places to look when it comes to making the home safe for a senior citizen. The home should never be someplace that can injure the elderly, yet the home poses a variety of substantial threats. So take every precaution by ensuring that all smoke detectors are in proper working order and a fire extinguisher is available at all times.
Be sure that all rooms have proper lighting. This is especially important for seniors who may have some eyesight issues and can’t see clearly. Change out broken bulbs with bright replacements. Check furniture and rugs to make sure that neither of these things can impede mobility and threaten to make the senior lose his or her balance.
One of the most important rooms to check is the kitchen. Making sure that your senior is safe here is of paramount concern as this an area of the home that can be very damaging and destructive due to the use of heat and open flame in some cases. It also poses some risks in the form of very sharp utensils such as knives and forks. A mistake with one of these can prove very hazardous to a senior’s health.
Monitor Medications
Since many medicines that are prescribed to seniors can be very powerful, they must be carefully monitored and regulated so as to avoid potential health risks with medications that could prove fatal if they are taken at the same time.
In order to keep seniors safe, be sure that medication labels are easy to read and that old and expired medicines are thrown away.