By Deanna Bookout
When was the last time you thought about home safety? How about the safety of your aging parents in their home; have you checked their home for general safety measures recently? Medical professionals will tell you how important it is for adult children to annually perform a safety check of their aging parents’ homes in order to help avoid dangerous situations.
Pacifica Senior Living Fort Myers Memory Care community offers an atmosphere of home and comfort, reducing feelings of insecurity, loneliness and confusion. We understand how important a feeling of safety is to our residents and their loved ones. While providing the best in customized care for our residents, we also provide support and education for families.
June is home safety month and we would like to give you a few tips on how you can help to keep your loved ones safe. Basic safety inspections should cover items such as fall prevention, fire and kitchen safety, emergency response systems, and home security. According to the CDC one out of three older people [those 65 and older] falls each year. With a few minor home adjustments, you can rest easy knowing the likelihood of your loved one suffering a fall injury has been decreased. An important first step toward preventing falls at home is to remove anything that could cause a trip or slip while walking. Stumbling on pet bowls, electrical or phone cords, excessive clutter, small furniture or small rugs can all cause you to fall. Be sure to arrange furniture so that there is a wide and clear walkway around the home and install handrails if necessary or where possible.
Kitchen safety is something that you will need to review with your loved ones often as their abilities might change naturally with the aging process or with a change in their prescribed medications. Make sure that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are installed and in good working order. Other basic safety measures include using a microwave instead of a stove, ensuring the kitchen is lighting is adequate, never leaving food that is cooking unattended and keeping a fire extinguisher handy.
If an emergency does occur in the home, do you have a plan in place for retrieving help? Always keep a list of emergency phone numbers in an easily accessible location (or two). Be sure the information is written in large print that can be read easily if you are in a rush. Important numbers include poison control, healthcare providers and family or friends. There are also many options for personal emergency response providers that can save your loved ones’ lives in a dire situation.
Your front door should have dead bolts installed and doors should remain locked whether you’re home or not. Most of us grew up in a time where it was common to leave your front door unlocked, but it is now important to make home security a habit. Other general safety guidelines to follow should include leaving a spare key with a neighbor you can trust in case you are ever locked out, never open the door to a stranger (if they are a sales or repair person, then you should call their company to verify their intentions), lastly don’t let people know when you are away from your home (through social media or otherwise) as this can make your home an easy target.
Take the time to make sure those you love are safe. As we get older we may take safety for granted and this is no time to forget the easy rules for keeping our homes safe. Other factors such as a change in our physical abilities as well as medications prescribed by healthcare professionals can also lend to potentially unsafe situations. Being alert and prepared is the best way to approach home safety. We strive to ensure that our residents live at their highest level comfort and security. If any of our residents need personalized care as an enhancement to our basic living services, Pacifica Senior Living Fort Myers also offers specialized personal attention. Our community creates a customized service and assistance plan for each resident with a variety of therapies and life enrichment activities. Since our professional and friendly staff interacts daily with our residents, we continually monitor their individual needs. We welcome you to contact our Pacifica Senior Living community in Fort Myers, FL to learn how you can experience the best in memory care.
Pacifica Senior Living
(239) 677-3083
www.PacificaFortMyers.com