How to avoid falling in your own home

Falls are the #1 cause of injury for seniors, often leading to hip fractures, cuts, and sometimes even serious head injuries that can be fatal. They can also be very scary.

Six out of ten falls among retirees occur in their own homes.

One-third of all people over the age of 65 fall each year. Furthermore, two-thirds of those who fall have another fall within six months. By the time retirees reach age 85, falls become the leading cause of death.

In 2016, a New Zealand cost-benefit analysis of the value of home renovations designed to reduce falls found that, over three years, there was a 33% reduction in medical expenses to treat injuries from falls and that these savings outweighed the costs of the reforms.

Why are falls more likely as we age?
First of all, as older adults we have increasing problems related to our health, just because we are getting older. These include the deterioration of our senses such as sight, hearing and sense of smell, health problems due to chronic diseases such as diabetes, as well as the degeneration of our muscles, bones and mind.

Second, about half of all falls are caused by risk factors in the home, such as slippery floors, loose rugs, electrical cords running across the floor, etc.

Third, the other half of these falls are caused by our clothes, such as the rush of young people to answer the phone.

Here’s how you can reduce your risk… some are just common sense and others involve remodeling your home.

First steps to prevent falls at home
Here are the easy common sense things you can do:

• clean up the mess…the easiest way to prevent falls is to keep your home clean and tidy. Clear all clutter, such as old magazines, especially from living rooms, hallways, and stairs.
• Eliminate tripping hazards…examine every room in your home for things like slippery rugs, loose rugs, protruding planks, and remove or fix them.
• Avoid loose clothing…don’t wear loose clothing as it can cause you to trip if it drags on the floor or bunches up.
• Wear shoes or slippers with straps…socks may feel more comfortable, but they can cause slipping. Alternatively, you can purchase non-slip socks that have grips on the soles.
• non-slip mats… place them in places that become extremely slippery when wet, such as floors in kitchens, bathrooms, and showers, as well as tile floors.
• Move slowly and carefully… where you suddenly get up from a sitting position you can get dizzy for a few seconds and thus fall. Just take your time and move slowly. Before you walk, look ahead to see and avoid any hazards in front of you. Don’t rush… you are no longer a sure-footed, fast-reacting young man.

Remodeling your home to prevent falls

The costs of some of these tips to reduce falls in your home can range from reasonable to quite expensive.

live on one level
By doing so, the risks associated with climbing stairs and other complicated movements are avoided.

However, if you live in a multi-level home, living on one level will usually mean buying or renting another home. It also means moving out of a house you’ve lived in for years and is full of memories…not a pleasant idea. It is also an expensive move.

Railing
These are crucial for using the stairs, walking down the halls, etc.

Handrails should be installed along the walls of the corridors. On stairs, it’s a good idea to install them on both walls if possible so you can use them to go up or hold onto them when going down.

Installing them is not expensive. It is indeed a DIY job or you can get help from a handyman.

turning on
In general, to prevent falls, older people need two to three times more light than younger people.

However, if you have specific problems with your vision, such as glaucoma, increasing light can reduce your vision and increase your risk of falling.

A foot-candle (fc) is the most common unit of measurement used by lighting professionals to calculate light levels.

According to the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, you need 30 fc for ambient lighting and 100 fc for lighting tasks, such as reading a book or newspaper. To measure the light in your home accurately, you can get a light meter at a hardware store, camera store, or department store.

As we age, our eyes find it harder to adjust to sudden changes in light intensity. Therefore, the lighting should remain fairly constant, except when you need task lighting. This is especially important in hallways and stairs.

You can reduce glare during the day by using lace curtains or blinds.

Light switches should be placed at a comfortable height for you and may need to be repositioned if you slouch.

Pressure plate controls are easier to use. The plates around the switches can be replaced with glow-in-the-dark ones.

Installing night lights in your bathroom and bedroom can reduce the risk of bumps and falls at night.

the door of your house
This is a high-risk area, especially when you’re coming out of the rain or carrying things that can throw you off balance.

To reduce these risks, make sure that any strip dividing the interior and exterior floors of the entrance is level with both floors, and that the floor surface inside the door is made of non-slip material.

Make sure your foot fits fully on each step of the stairs and that the height of the steps is comfortable for you. Each step must be covered with non-slip material.

bath
This is, in many ways, the riskiest place for falls. But there are many things you can do to make your bathroom safer.

Grab bars… are a must. Grab bars should be installed next to toilets and in bathtubs and showers—that is, anywhere you need them to get up or grab onto to prevent a fall.

They make bathing and toilet use much safer. Only the presence of his mother can make older people less afraid of falling.

Fear of falling can increase the risk of falls. So it’s no surprise that three-quarters of seniors use grab bars 100% of the time.

However, grab bars should be tailored to individual needs…heights, angles, spacing from the wall, and colors should be tailored to your personal physical needs.

Installing them is a simple task for a DIY handyman.

Raised and padded toilet seat…they fit on top of the standard toilet bowl instead of the standard seat. They make getting up and sitting down so much easier, and just like grab bars, they’re easy to set up.

Non-slip strips… for the floor of your bathtub or shower are absolutely necessary.

Bath or shower seat… can reduce the risk of a fall while washing your body.

Soap…a ​​soap rack right next to where you’ll be sitting or standing in the shower can be very helpful, but a liquid soap dispenser, securely attached to the wall, is even better as there’s no chance of it getting fall. to the shower floor or the bottom of the tub.

Other helpful things that reduce the risk of a fall include:

• Suction Cup Foot Scrubbing Sandals… grab the bottom of the tub or shower. Its foot scrubbing action cleans the soles of your feet without you having to bend down.
• reacher/grabber… to collect things. Think of it as an extension for your arm. It allows you to pick things up without having to stretch and risk falling.
• Seat in front of sink…allows you to sit safely when only washing your face and hands. The seat should be wide enough to fit your butt comfortably and have padded armrests.
• magnifying mirror…prevents having to lean forward and risk a fall when examining the face.
• small handheld magnifying glass…it’s handy for reading pill bottle labels.
• bath mat… out of your tub or shower will prevent slipping when you get out.

remodeling your bathroom

The best thing you can do with your bathroom is to remodel it by getting rid of the bathtub and installing a shower.

This can be expensive as you need to install a wet floor, i.e. a tiled floor with a drain hole that slopes gently so that water flows into the drain opening.

Also, you need to make sure that there is no passage from the bath to the shower.

The shower should contain an adjustable seat and all the necessary grab bars tailored to your personal needs, to minimize the risk of falling. The shower should have non-slip strips and suction-soled foot scrubbing sandals as mentioned above.

This is not a job for a DIY artist. A plumber and building contractor is required.

ladders
There are several things to check on your stairs.

• Make sure there are easy-to-reach light switches at both the top and bottom of the stairs.
• The ambient lighting in the stairwell must be bright and homogeneous, without glare or shadows.
• Make sure the depth of the ladder is wide enough so that your foot fits comfortably and your heel doesn’t hang over the step below.
• Also make sure that the height between the steps is not too much for you.
• If the stairs are carpeted, check that the carpet is securely fastened in place.
• If stairs aren’t carpeted, make sure they have a non-slip surface.
• Make sure there are handrails on both sides of the stairs, that the rails are securely fastened, and that they extend the entire length of the stairs.

Kitchen room

The kitchen is not as risky as the rest of the house. Here are some tips to make this room more secure:

• Use low shelves (let’s say waist height) for your most used items, eg pans
• Use a self-balancing metal stepladder with a handle at the top to reach higher items and lower them.
• Non-slip floor mats can also be helpful.

living

While not as dangerous as other areas of the house, such as the bathroom, the living room does present some dangers of its own. Here are some tips:

• Make sure that the path from, for example, the kitchen to the dining table is clear of obstacles. This can be done by rearranging the position of your furniture.
• Minimize the amount of furniture as much as possible
• All electrical cords must be kept out of walking paths. Avoid running extension cords if possible and certainly not in the middle of the room.
• Remove all rugs, as the edges are easy to trip over. If you must have them, put double-sided tape under the edges so they stick to the carpet underneath.
• Check your rugs for frayed edges that need to be cut. If they are badly worn, replace them if possible. At our age it is very difficult to recover from a stumble without falling.

Making your home safe is a matter of common sense and knowing how to overcome the obstacles that can cause you to fall.

I hope this article helps you understand the risks and gives you the knowledge to implement measures to reduce your risk of falling.