Senior Health Tips: Making the Home Safer, One Room at a Time

There are many areas of the home that can be very dangerous to seniors and others who are mobility challenged, but thankfully, there are also many devices available to help make these areas safer and easier to use.

Staircase Safety

The stairs is actually the most dangerous area of a home. To make the stairs safer and easier to use, stair lifts are often employed. A stair lift carries a person up and down the staircase. Usually most stair lifts use a chair to move the person between floors. For some though, such as people who have had knee replacement surgery, a stair chair can not be safely used, so a standing stair lift is available. However, most people should use the stair chair unless medical necessary, because a standing stair lift requires more balance than a sitting stair lift.

Bathroom Safety

Another area of the home that can be dangerous is the bathroom. The bathroom is filled with many hard surfaces, such as the counter and toilet. Adding to this is the excess moisture that can accumulate on the floor after a shower or bath. It is always a good idea to have non-slip bath mats in the bathroom and there are also several other devices that can are used to make using the bathroom easier and safer. Among them are the bath lift, which lifts an individual into and out of the bathtub, and the toilet seat lift, which helps lift an individual off of the toilet.

Living Room Safety

In addition to having trouble getting onto and off of the toilet, many seniors and people who are mobility challenged are not able to easily get out of any chair without assistance. For these cases, there are several seat lifts and lift chairs available. A lift chair closely resembles a recliner, however, the base of a lift chair contains a very strong lifting system that raises the chair into the air. After the chair is raised, the individual is able to safely exit the chair in a standing position.

There are also portable seat lifts available, which can be placed onto the seat of most chairs. The seat lift then raises up and helps to make standing easier. Since a portable seat lift can be placed in almost any regular sitting chair, many people use these when traveling and use a lift chair while at the house.

Bedroom Safety

Getting into and out of a chair is not the only process that often is difficult for seniors, but sometimes it is also difficult to get out of bed. For these cases, Hi-Low beds are available. A Hi-low bed can be lowered, so that is closer to the ground, and then raised back up once the occupant is in the bed. This makes it much easier to transfer into and out of the bed. Some adjustable beds also offer Hi-Low functionality, so you get the sleep benefits of an adjustable beds, with the mobility benefits of a Hi-Low Bed.

Improving safety in the home is important for seniors, because the majority of accidents happen while at home. While the stairs are the most dangerous, this is partly due to how serious an accident on the stairs can be. Often, many less serious accidents will occur else where.