Growing old is a beautiful thing, but not all of us are lucky enough to do so, for those of us who will grow old, it will come with some challenges.
As our bodies weaken we are more prone to trips and falls in our home and as a result, we could become seriously injured.
In this article, we will take a look at some of the best ways you can keep safe in your home as you get older.
Some of these tips will be really easy to implement and cheap while others will be a little more complex and more expensive.
The reason for this is so that no matter what your budget or experience level you can implement these tips and make your home safer today.
For elderly people, trips and falls are the main causes of injuries at home and this article will focus on small changes that you can make to minimize your chance of injury.
1. Audit Your Home
You may already have issues in your home that could cause you problems in the future. Auditing your home now gives you enough time to fix them.
You may have loose flooring, rugs, and mats that slip or wires that run across walkways. As a younger person, these still pose a threat but as you age and your eyesight deteriorates that threat level increases.
An audit doesn’t have to be complex, it can be as simple as walking around your home with a pen and paper listing things that could cause you harm.
When you have audited your home you can then carry out these repairs yourself or if you are unable to do so hire someone to help you. Doing so would also give you a list of things to improve on. You’ll find out if you need to invest in hospital beds for seniors, safety rails, non-slip flooring, etc.
Trips and falls are serious and according to taking care they are more common than we realize with over 30% of people over the age of 65 falling at least once a year.
If a fall worries you this is a great place to start in fixing the hazards in your home.
2. Clean Up Your Clutter
Clutter or old items in your home can be an accident waiting to happen. Clutter can be anything from old papers, kids’ toys to unwanted furniture.
As we get older we tend to have more things so this eventually leads to our homes being overcrowded.
When our homes become overcrowded it can lead to clutter accumulating which once again can lead to trips and falls in the home.
If you have too many items consider selling them, putting them into storage, or giving them away to charity shops.
If you sell them it could help finance some of the other suggestions on this list too, so win-win.
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3. Install Accessible Fittings
Accessible fittings can range from being cheap to being expensive. Accessible fittings such as handrails, grab rails and non-slip mats can be cheap enough and can keep you safer in your home.
Walk-in bathtubs and stairlifts on the other hand are very expensive to some and are out of their budget.
With that said if you can afford either or both it will significantly reduce the risk of a fall in your home. Most companies that sell these items also offer affordable payment options too.
Not only do accessible fittings allow you to be safer at home they also allow you to move around it with more convenience too.
4. Install A Cctv System and Join the Neighbourhood Watch
In the world that we live in it’s sad that the elderly are often targets of scams and attacks.
Firstly to keep safe at home you should install a CCTV system along with an alarm system so that burglars will be put off from targeting your home in the first place.
With that said, some burglars will be confident in being able to disable certain alarm systems so do your research first.
A neighborhood watch group is also a good place to join as it builds a sense of community and also gives you peace of mind knowing that your neighbors are looking out for you while you do the same for them too.
To find out if your neighborhood has a neighborhood watch system you can contact your local council or attend your local community center where they will have more details.
