Five Tips for Preventing Falls
Falling is serious, and is a life altering event for many seniors. While there is no way of preventing falls completely, extreme measures can be take to help avoid falling. Like any major medical prevention, it is important to spend time with your loved one assessing the current situation and finding the rooms for improvement. When it comes to preventing falls, no safety measure is too drastic. There are many things to review and to account for when discussing falls, and they vary to each person’s specific situation. Here are five things that must be taken into consideration
- Proper footwear: The right shoe can make all the difference.Shoe technology has advanced to help both with balance and with cadence. Often times, a pedorthist will be able to recommend the best shoe.
- Light: A bright home is a safe home. Make sure all the lights in the home are working and should stay on s often as possible.A bright home helps seniors see where they are going and what is in the way as well as provide a sense of alertness and focus helping prevent falls.
- Stay active: While some people think being active raises the risk of falling, they couldn’t be farther from the truth. Staying active helps provide a sense of balance and ability to walk and stand comfortably for longer stretches. Additionally, in the unfortunate event of a fall, active people will have an easier time with recovery.
- Home safety: Make a checklist of everything in the house that can have an impact on falling and make sure it is constantly being updated. From proper shower support to tightening a stair rail, minor things can have a huge impact. Let your loved one know that if anything needs fixing you can take care of it or arrange to take care of it. The impact of these small tasks is tremendous.
- Vision: Vision and falls g hand in hand, most times people fall it’s de to not seeing something, whether it was an object or a stair. Make sure you or your loved ones vision is not impaired. Aside from all the benefits of vision from a quality of life sense,it can be a huge player in preventing falls.
Each person and home is unique and it is important to tailor your fall prevention plan accordingly. Discuss with your loved one where they feel a fear of falling and help determine what you can do to prevent that. Every fall avoided is another person granted a better quality of life.
