By Richard E. Ueberfluss, PT and edited by David Brimm — Updated March 27, 2026 Download One-page Room-by-Room Safety Checklist (printable) Introduction As people age, the home environment often becomes the site of the greatest risk for injury. Falls, medication/chemical poisoning, choking (dysphagia), and fire remain the most common and most preventable hazards. Recent advances—telehealth, smart-home devices, guided exercise programs,…
Spring is a welcome change after a long winter. Warmer temperatures, blooming trees, and fresh green lawns signal a new season of growth and renewal. But along with the beauty of spring comes a less pleasant reality: rising pollen counts and seasonal allergies. While allergies are often associated with children and younger adults, many seniors are affected each year. In…
Staying physically active is critical to a senior’s physical health and emotional well-being. Simply sitting for long durations throughout each day does incredible harm to the human physique—which is designed to benefit from a hefty dose of physical activity daily. In fact, the US Department of Health and Human Services presents specific recommendations, known as the Physical Activity Guidelines, that…
Are your elderly parents getting the sleep they need? Have you ever tried to fall asleep but just couldn’t? Or have you fallen asleep just to wake up in the middle of the night and then you can’t fall asleep until just before the alarm goes off? Are you staying awake to care for elderly parents? Sleep is such an…
A story by United Press International (UPI) discovered that traumatic spinal cord injuries are on the rise in the United States and the leading cause no longer is motor vehicle crashes, but falls, researchers say. The story appeared in the Journal of Neurotrauma. UPI’s source was Dr. Shalini Selvarajah, a post-doctoral surgical research fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School…
A study of senior women at the Shimane University Faculty of Medicine in Japan found that the average sodium intake among all the women studied was 5,211 milligrams a day. The women in the top 25 percent for sodium intake averaged 7,561 milligrams a day. Now there is evidence that having a very high salt intake is linked to a…
